Past forgot, present known
by graveofbutterflies
Summary: After escaping from criminal's clutches, Natsu looses his memories due to a misjudged jump into water. He is found by a group of friends, and creates a new, dangerous life with them. But fairy tail are missing him, and want him back. Can Natsu trust people he can't remember?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi!**

 **Here is the summary of my new story:**

 **After a serious fall, Natsu lost all his memories, apart from his name. Luckily, was found by a group of friends, who call themselves wanderers. Natsu is soon accepted as one of them. But fairy tail miss him, and are determined to find him. Can Natsu trust people he can't remember?**

 **I do not own fairy tail…**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu tugged on his chains half-heartedly, then twisted himself in a more comfortable position. The dragon slayer sighed and hung his head, ignoring the pain in his body.

He had been in this position for two weeks, and was not going to get out any time soon. Sighing, he thought how he got into this mess.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

 _"Come on Happy!" Natsu cried happily, "it's only a three day trip!"_

 _Happy looked down at his feet._

 _"Natsu…" Happy muttered, and Natsu turned around, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He looked down at the exceed curiously._

 _"What's the matter?" He asked, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. Happy looked up at the dragon slayer with a concerned look._

 _"I don't think you should go on this mission…I don't know why…but not on your own, at least!" He said suddenly, and Natsu cocked his head._

 _Is Happy really that worried?, he thought to himself before breaking into a giant grin. He stepped back a little, showing he was ready to go._

 _"I'll be fine!" Natsu called and started walking away backwards, waving happily. Happy smiled a bit and waved back. "Besides, if I'm not back in about two weeks, you can come and collect me!"_

 _Natsu turned around and picked up his pace, swapping hand with his bag. The dragon slayer looked back at Happy, and smiled reassuringly._

 _"I'll always come back to Fairy tail…" Natsu muttered and started to run, because he just discovered he was late to his train._

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu felt tears come into his eyes, and blinked rapidly to stop making them fall. He hated being as pathetic as he was now, but he couldn't help it.

Why didn't I take Happy seriously?, Natsu thought, frustrated with himself.

The dragon slayer shifted his position again, and a door opened some way off. Natsu held his breath, and a cut started to sting on one of his legs. Natsu closed his eyes, and didn't open them again.

Not him, he screamed in his head, please not him!

"Still alive, I see…how unfortunate."

Natsu opened his eyes slowly, and saw that a man was looming in front of him. He had long, green hair which was tied in a ponytail, which was dyed black at the end. He had a stocky figure, and his skin was pale, unlike Natsu's. The man's eyes were black, and he wore a horrible smile on his face. In his hand, he held a long dagger, which had dry, crusted blood on its blade.

My blood, Natsu thought and the man advanced closer to him, licking his lips. Natsu shrank back as far as he could go, and looked away from him.

"Tsk tsk tsk." The man said, and Natsu felt his hand grab his chin roughly and turn his head, so he was forced to look at the man in front of him.

"Did no one teach you manners?" The man whispered, and he raised the dagger up, so the sunlight that had managed to get in the cell bounced off it.

"Answer me!" The man yelled sharply, and Natsu nodded quickly. The green haired sneered, and brought the dagger close to the dragon slayer's face; so close that he could feel the pointed tip grazing his cheek.

"Such a handsome face…" the man whispered, and then cut Natsu's face-from the end of his eye to his jawline. Natsu winced, and felt his blood dripping onto his neck and chest. The pain brought tears to his eyes, but he refused to cry.

His attacker grinned, and licked the blade of the weapon, looking directly at Natsu. Natsu waited, and the man eventually turned and walked away with the dagger held loosely at his side.

Once he was gone, Natsu shuddered, and thought back to Fairy tail.

Do they know where I am?, Natsu thought, and remembered what his original mission actually was.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

 _Natsu groaned and stumbled off the train, swaying slightly. Why didn't he just walk._

 _"You okay, young man?" someone asked to his left. Smiling slightly, the dragon slayer nodded, and looked down at the flyer in his hand. He started to read it out loud to himself._

 _"Please come and help capture this man…" Natsu looked at the photograph on the page; it was of a strange looking man, who had green hair and black eyes. He was wearing a blue vest top, and had a scratch on his right shoulder._

 _"Price…a thousand jewels!" He finished happily and looked at the man again. "Wow…no wonder you want him captured."_

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Had to get things wrong, didn't I?..." Natsu muttered to himself. The dragon slayer hung his head, and closed his eyes in defeat.

"Fairy tail…" he whispered and suddenly snapped his eyes open again.

Fairy tail.

He had to get out of here. He promised himself he would always come back to it, and that promise would not get broken now.

He had to escape.

 **Please please please say what you think about this!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again- thanks for the reviews!**

 **I don't own fairy tail. Enjoy!**

Natsu focused all his magic on the cuffs on his hands. They resisted magic, but if he put enough power in them, they might break. Natsu gritted his teeth and pushed his magic to the limi- and that's when he heard the first crack.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Mokarov stood in the middle of the guild hall, waiting for quiet. Not that he needed to; ever since Natsu went missing, the place was almost silent. The guild master looked around at the members of the guild. Cana was in the corner with Macao, both with drinks in their hands. On the next table was Gajeel sitting by himself, grinding his fingernails on the table. On the right, Mira was sitting with her hands on fists. Elfman was next to her, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Other guild members were dotted around tables, looking glum, but Mocarov was mainly concerned about Natsu's closest friends. Ersa, Lucy and Happy were sitting at the same table, heads down and exhausted. Gray was separate to the others, and was standing against a wall with his arms crossed.

Every single guild member were all doing the same thing; they were looking at him, waiting to hear any news.

"I can't let any of you go on like this." Mocarov started, and a few mutters broke out in the hall. Ersa and Lucy looked at him properly, listening carefully. Movarov sighed and closed his eyes before carrying on.

"I can't let you keep searching for Natsu Dragneel."

This time, shouts broke out, but Gray's was the loudest.

"So you've given up?!" He yelled , standing up properly.

"We've got to keep looking!" Lucy cried out, standing up. Other people agreed with this. Mira stood up too, along with Ersa.

"I know he's still out there…" Mira said quietly, but somehow her voice got heard. She had tears in her eyes, and Mocarov looked away.

"Master." Ersa said, and everyone was silent. "I remember…when I got taken to the tower of heaven, Natsu didn't give up on me…not even when his own life was at risk." Ersa paused for a while, then carried on. " And I don't think I should give up on him!" She finished, and people cheered. Macao raised the glass he was holding.

Mokarov sighed and looked up at all the members of the guild. There was silence again.

"We can't go on looking for him… I much as I would like to, we can't. At least, not as much as we are doing now. Do you understand?"

Gray walked over to the table Ersa, Lucy and Happy were on. He said quietly:

"Why do you want us to stop?"

"Because," Mokarov said, "you are all neglecting yourselves. You all are not going on missions, and loosing money. You must carry on how you would if Natsu was here."

"He would want that…"

All of the guild members looked at the speaker, and realised it was Happy that was speaking. The exeed had been very quiet throughout the last nine months- ever since Natsu didn't return from his mission.

Mokarov smiled, something he hadn't done in a while.

"And I have faith in Natsu's return." He said and smiles spread around the guild hall.

Even Happy smiled a little, Mokarov noted.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu slipped out the metal door, which he had managed to open with a fire punch or two. However, he was now completely out of magical energy, after all the magic he had used before to get out of his cuffs. Limping slightly, Natsu crept down the dark corridors, which had a metallic scent to them. Was this place completely made out of metal?

Faster now, the dragon slayer stumbled to the scent of fresh air, trying to be as quiet as he could. He was in completely unknown territory, and had no idea how many enemies were here.

At last!, Natsu thought, as he now saw some light seeping from the cracks of another door.

This door was bigger than the rest, but was made from a thick wood, unlike the others.

Probably so no one can find it, he thought, looking at the wood.

"Lets burn." Natsu said, voice cracking as he hadn't used it in so long. He licked some of the remaining melted metal from his hands, which had somehow stayed there after he broke the chains, and felt it slip down his throat. It was enough.

Natsu lit up his fist, and using most of his strength, pounded it into the door. It caught fire in seconds, and was soon just some burning timber on the ground.

However, it had caused a lot of noise.

Natsu quickly climbed over the remaining wood pieces quietly.

He thought he got away with it.

Just as he breathed in the fresh air, just as the coolness of the night breeze blew into his face, he heard a cry:

"Get him!"

"The slayer's escaping!"

Natsu started to run, and heard a shout he hoped he wouldn't hear.

"I want him back! Don't let him get away!"

It was his kidnapper, calling for him back.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu ran. He ran through the trees blindly, not looking back. The footsteps were getting nearer, and Natsu was running out of space to run.

"Natsu…"

Natsu had just came face to face with a cliff which had a fast flowing river at the bottom. The dragon slayers limbs were shaking and all his injuries the man had given throughout the nine months were now aching and splitting open again.

"Come on Natsu…you have nowhere to run…"

Natsu turned around and saw his abuser walking towards him slowly, his green hair loose and blowing in the wind. Behind him were some men that Natsu had never seen before and they all were carrying a strange looking weapon in their right arms. They were grinning horribly.

"Natsu…"

Natsu looked back at the cliff and then at his kidnappers face again.

Suddenly, Igneel's voice came booming into his head just like he remembered it, telling him what to do.

 _Jump_.

Natsu looked back at the cliff, closed his eyes, and jumped, not realising how shallow the river actually was.

Not knowing he was putting himself in danger.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back with another chapter. Thank you to everyone who is reading this!**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Gray sat at one of the many tables in the guild and swirled his drink with straw. He didn't actually have any intention of drinking the liquid; the ice Mage just got it to keep him occupied.

Gray looked around at the other members of the guild, and knew that they were feeling the same as he did. He gritted his teeth, and looked back down at the drink.

"Damm it." Gray muttered under his breath and stood up abruptly, causing his drink to knock over. The liquid dripped off the table, and onto the wooden floorboards below it. Gray watched it for a second before walking quickly out of the guild, avoiding the curious stares.

 _Natsu…don't die on me._

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Erza sat under a tree, practicing her sword re-quipping on the shade. It kept her occupied, and stopped her thinking about what thinks were on her mind.

She sighed and changed her axe she was currently holding into a sword with a red handle.

 _Natsu_ …, she suddenly thought, dropping her sword. _Can't you see what you are doing to Fairytail_?

Erza got up, intending to go to the guild and get a mission that she could do with Lucy, Happy and Gray- to help put their minds off things.

But would it, when there was no dragon slayer to keep them company?

Come back to us Natsu, she thought, before picking up the sword and leaving.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Lucy stroked Happy slowly and gently, being careful not to wake him up. The blue exceed had fallen asleep on her lap a while ago, and hadn't woke up yet. Lucy herself was sitting on the floor of her bedroom with her legs crossed, deep in thought.

A clock ticked in the background and it only reminded Lucy of the lack of noise in her house.

Usually, Natsu would be in her home by now, sleeping on the bed or helping himself to some of her food.

Or just sitting on the floor, playing with Happy.

Lucy smiled at the memories; she stroked Happy a little harder and looked up at the ceiling.

She blinked back some tears that sprang into her eyes frowned determinedly.

"We will find you Natsu." She said determinedly.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

The river current was strong; it pulled ancient rocks from the ground and carried them along with all the other things it managed to pick up on the way: a plastic bag, perhaps, or sometimes big, long pieces of plastic. Eventually, all these things were cast aside on a river bank, trapped between rocks.

The body of Natsu Dragneel lay on some of these rocks.

The dragon slayer was drenched from head to foot; the only place that wasn't covered in water was on the top of his forehead, under his hair.

Instead, it was covered in blood.

It ran down his face steadily and onto the ground, creating a small puddle next to him. The only sign Natsu was alive was from the steady rise and fall of his chest.

"Villain!" A male voice shouted from above. There was a bark in reply.

The boy who was calling had spiked green hair which was messy and quite short. He was wearing a red hoodie, which was slightly too big for him, a black pair of jeans and brown sandals. Also, he wore black shades.

The teen walked some more, swinging his arms carelessly.

"Villain! Come on!" He called and jumped down from a small height, landing lightly on his feet. He caught a glimpse of the still figure of Natsu, and stepped back a little.

"Holy shit!" He yelled, and approached the unconscious dragon slayer curiously. He scratched his head and looked closer.

"Holy shit." He repeated, noticing the rise and fall of his chest.

Just then, a giant black dog came bounding up to them, wagging it's tail madly. It had sticking up ears and brown eyes. It barked softly and the teen turned to it, smiling at the sight of it.

"Could you go an' get Haru? Or somebody smart?" He asked, scratching the dogs ear.

At the mention of the name 'Haru', the dog, Villain, perked it's ears up. The teen grinned.

"Go." He said, and the dog ran off. The green haired teen crouched down and brushed some of the hair out of Natsu's face.

"How the fuck are you still alive?" He said and sat down on a nearby rock.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

A few minutes later, another teen came climbing down the rocks cautiously. He had black hair which was surprisingly neat, and he wore a checked shirt with a denim jacket. He had brown trousers and wore black rimmed glasses. His eyes were brown and he had a few freckles on his nose.

"What's up?" The boy, Haru, called and slipped a little.

"Come an' look at what I found…" he said, and Haru pushed up his glasses, annoyed.

"Myron," he said dangerously as he came closer, "if you got me all the way over here to look at something useless that you found then I swear I will-" he stopped dead and looked at the unconscious form of Natsu.

"Is he alive?!" Haru cried, running over to where Myron was crouched. He checked his pulse, then looked at the dragon slayer's face.

"He's bleeding." Haru said, calmer than he was before, and quickly took his jacket off then placed it on the wound on the head.

"He must've got swept up by the river." He said as Myron greeted his dog, who just came bounding forwards.

"What the fuck are we going to do?!" He said, looking at Haru. Haru muttered something, which sounded a lot like 'language' before replying:

"We gotta treat his wounds." He pressed the jacket on Natsu's head harder, applying more pressure. Myron rubbed the back of his neck.

"Should we take him to the others, then?" He said, nodding slightly at Natsu. Haru nodded.

"And I guess I'm carrying him?"

Haru nodded, with a amused smile on his face.

"Can you see me carrying him?" He asked, getting up. Myron laughed.

"Carrying?" He said, picking up the dragon slayer gently, "Nah- more like dragging, weak arms."

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu woke up hours later. He was first aware of nothing, but then he noticed the sharp pain in his head and the aching of his limbs.

Where was he?

What happened?

 _Who_ was he?

Natsu thought hard, trying not to panic.

 _I am Natsu. Natsu Dragneel.,_ he thought. He tried to move, but nothing happened.

Desperately he tried to remember anything else. _Anything_.

But nothing came to mind. He could remember nothing.

"Hey!"

Natsu looked towards the source of the noise, and saw a girl standing there with a irritated look on her face. She had blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail and she had some freckles on her nose and on one of her cheeks. The girl was wearing a beaded denim jacket with a light blue top underneath. She had black leggings on, but Natsu couldn't see much of them. He looked up and also noticed that she was chewing something; presumably gum.

"Yeah, finally noticed me, huh?" She said, but it was in a kind way. The girl, who was about sixteen, sat down on the floor, which made Natsu realise that they were in a cave of some sort.

"Well, rise an' shine, sleepin' beauty!" She said happily with a big smile on her face. "Yeh know, I thought you were never gonna wake up."

Despite the circumstances, Natsu found himself smiling a little.

"Aha!" The girl cried, "I found a smile!"

 **Please say what you think! Good or bad, because this is my first Fairy tail fanfic!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya everyone- I'm back! Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows.**

 **I don't own fairytail**

 **Enjoy!**

"You have very pink hair. Is it dyed? Looks like it." The blond girl said and only paused for a millisecond to look closer at Natsu's hair. She scratched her head and smiled.

"You don't speak much, do ya? Mind you, I haven't let ya speak yet."

Nastu lay listening to her, amazed someone could talk that fast. She leaned closer to him, her ponytail swinging slightly.

"So, what's ya name…where are ya from?" The girl was now grinning and her eyes were sparkling. Natsu was silent for a few seconds.

"Natsu...my name's Natsu…" He said, surprised at the sound of his voice. He couldn't remember were he was from, so he didn't answer the second question. The girl didn't seem to mind.

"Natsu…I like it!" She cried and chewed her gum harder. "My name is Mika, but everybody calls me Blue Jay."

Nastu looked at her, confused. Blue Jay? Mika saw his face and burst out laughing; it was a strong, happy sound and it made Natsu smile.

"I like blue jays," she explained, "an' Joker- Myron is his real name- found out this, an' he's called me tha' ever since." Mika laughed at the memory. She then studied him carefully.

"I wonder…" she said then shook her head a little, "never mind."

Natsu sat up slowly, wincing slightly in pain. Mika gasped suddenly and slapped her palm on her forehead.

"I forgot to say!" She said quickly, "We had to scrap ya old clothes- they were drenched an' ripped- so we had to put ya in some of Reaper's clothes, cause you two are roughly the same size. Sorry if they are too goth lookin' for ya, but Reaper always wears mostly black…"

Natsu looked down at his clothes and found that he was wearing black jeans and a white top which was ripped slightly. On top of that he was wearing a black jacket which was a little worn but otherwise new looking.

"Reaper?" Natsu said questionably. Mika smiled sheepishly.

"Reaper's actual name is Rinn." She said, answering Natsu's question. "Another nickname…"

The dragon slayer smiled back and tried to get up some more, but he was pushed back by Mika.

"Ya will need more rest…I think, anyway…hey!" Natsu jumped at the sudden cry of 'hey!'. "Why don't ya, once your ready, meet my friends! I think they will like to meet ya…" Mika spat out her gum on a nearby rock.

"Yeah…sounds good." Natsu replied; the girl jumped up and was beaming.

"Great!" She cried out, "are ya okay to go now? I know I said that ya should rest more, but I'm no doctor…"

Natsu smiled and nodded, then slowly stood up. Everything still seemed to be working.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

As Natsu and Mika made their way further out the cave they were in, the dragon slayer grew more aware of the voices coming from outside.

"Ooh…I can hear wedding bells…"

Then a shout.

"Shut up, Myron! I'm warning you!"

Loud laughter.

"Ahh…couples always deny love…"

"No, they don't."

"Well, these two do…"

Natsu came out of the cave behind Mika, and saw that a red headed girl was pink in the face. A boy with green hair was next to her, grinning and scratching a black dog behind it's ears.

Next to him was a boy with brown hair and glasses. A few metres away from him, sitting on a log, was a teen with black hair and black clothing. He was looking away in embarrassment.

"Can I pick out your wedding dress, Carrot top?" The green haired man asked with a wide smile on his face. The brunette teen snorted.

"OI GUYS!" Mika yelled and the group turned to look at her. She then turned back to Natsu and smiled.

"That's," She said pointing to the red head, "is Yuki, otherwise known as Carrot top," Yuki folded her arms.

"I didn't choose the nick name…" she muttered.

"This," Mika pointed to the brunette boy, "is Haru, or Zap,"

Haru gave a little wave. Mika carried on, pointing to the green haired teen.

"That's Myron, or Joker, and that's Rinn, otherwise known as Reaper!" She finished, lastly pointing to the black haired teen.

"Yo." Myron said, grinning. "You sure you're not a ghost?"

Rinn stood up and walked up to him, until his eyes were level with his. Then, slowly, he poked the dragon slayer in the chest. Natsu looked at him, confused.

"Seems pretty solid to me…" Rinn said and a small smile twitched on his face. A friendly smile.

"Oh, yeah- great way to introduce yourself," The brunette, Haru, said sarcastically, "poke the guy in the chest."

Natsu laughed.

"It's okay…at least I know I'm not dead- or a ghost anyway. I might be a zombie."

The group laughed and Myron, the green haired, beckoned him to sit next to him, by the fire which was burning in the centre.

"I like this dude!" He exclaimed happily. Yuki, or 'Carrot top', brushed some of her hair out her face.

"One important question." Yuki said, and Mika stopped talking to Rinn. "What is your opinion on food?"

"What- in general?" Nastu asked and Yuki nodded. A smile formed on the dragon slayers lips and he closed his eyes.

"Food…is the only point in living…you know how people say that God is found in nature- I think he is found in food." Natsu said, and everybody laughed around him; however, no one was as loud as Mika- she laughed so hard that a bit of snot came out her nose- this made everybody laugh harder.

"Aw man…" Mika said, wiping the snot off her face with her hand, "I think this guy should join us."

Natsu looked around curiously at everyone's faces. They were all nodding at each other.

"Defiantly." Myron said.

"Anyone who has an opinion like that for food is good enough for me." Yuki added on. Haru then sat up properly from his slouch and pushed up jus glasses a little.

"You wanna join us?" He asked Natsu and Rinn rolled his eyes.

"Jeez…anyone would think you were about to asked him whether he wanted to join the Mafia or something, with a manner like that…"

However, all eyes looked at him seriously- this wasn't a joke. Natsu hesitated, then smiled.

"Heck yeah- as long as the food's nice." He added on jokingly at the end.

"Welcome to the group, Creeper." Myron said, holding out his hand. Everybody else clapped. Natsu shook his hand happily, knowing he made the right decision.

"Creeper?" Natsu questioned and Haru moved back into his slouch position.

Rinn picked up a stick and threw it into the fire.

"Looks like Joker's gave you a nick name." He said lazily and lay down.

"Why Creeper?" The dragon slayer asked.

"Cause your sittin' by a creeper plant." Myron replied. Natsu looked to his left and found that indeed he was.

"Wow. New record. How long was that- thirty seconds?" Rinn said and, with no more sticks to throw in the fire, was picking his nails.

"Yep!" Myron said happily and was about to say something else when Mika interrupted. She spoke to Natsu.

"Now that ya in the group, I- or we- need to ask some things."

"Go for it." Natsu replied.

"Well," She said, "do ya approve with stealin'?"

"I don't mind it."

"Do ya mind not stayin' somewhere for a long time?"

"No."

"An'…can ya run fast?"

Myron let out a snigger at the last question.

"Wha?" Mika asked then muttered, "he's gonna be runnin' a lot, so it would help if he were fast."

"She's got a point." Haru said.

"Err…yeah- I think so. Why are you asking me these questions?" Natsu asked, interrupting.

Yuki crosses her legs.

"Well-" she sighed. "We don't have any kind of money, so we steal food, we sort of move from place to place- we don't stay there long- and usually we have to run from angry bastards wanting their food back."

Whilst Yuki explained, she didn't pause at all, and Natsu wondered if she still had any breath left. After briefly wondering this, he paid more attention to everyone around him; they were all looking at him, waiting for an answer.

 _Do I mind?,_ Natsu thought, then, coming to an decision, answered.

"Well. As long as we steal nice food, I don't mind."

"This is why I like this guy." Myron said, ruffling the dragon slayer's hair. Natsu batted his hand off jokingly and pulled out the creeper beside him, then threw it into the fire.

"That's plant cruelty." Mika said matter-of-factly. Haru snorted.

"Your face is plant cruelty." He said and everybody yelled things like 'burn' and 'snaaaap'."

"Oh Zap! You're almost as good as me." Myron said, pretending to tear up. Mika giggled.

"One question." Natsu said, gaining everybody's attention. "What's the point in using nick names?"

"Well, my friend…" Myron said and pulled the dog onto his lap more. It licked his face, and Myron had to go 'down, Villain!' before carrying on.

"We have nicknames cause when done bastards are chasing you, you can't exactly call out to someone using their real name. Cause then, they know who you are. But if you use code names, the bastards can't get you."

Natsu smiled and nodded.

"Makes sense." He said calmly. Suddenly, Mika jumped up, as if someone had stuck a pin in her.

"Food time!" She said and ran to a bag that was cast aside. She opened it and pulled out some pancakes and some jam.

"Went to hell gettin' these, so they better be nice!" She said, ripping open the packet and proceeding to toss them at her friends.

"Fast food." Myron said; Mika smiled and threw them faster. Natsu caught his, and looked down at it.

"Could I have some jam?" He asked jokingly. Everybody laughed, waiting for what Mika would do. 'Blue Jay' picked up the jam slowly and twisted it in her hand.

"Ooooh" Yuki said into the silence.

Everybody watched her.

"JAM!" Mika suddenly screamed and threw it hard in Natsu's direction. The dragon slayer yelled, and ducked. The jar hit a tree, and shattered- jam exploded everywhere.

"Great going…" Rinn said, rolling his eyes. Haru has jumped up when the jar hit the tree, and now had his hand on his heart.

"I swear I heard that whistle as it went through the air." He said, sitting down again.

"Who wants to suck it off the floor!" Myron cried and everybody laughed.

And at that moment, as he was laughing, Natsu felt like he had known Mika, Yuki, Myron, Rinn and Haru all his life, and no longer cared what he could and couldn't remember.

 **Did you like it?**

 **Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello all**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu woke up on soft ground. By the smells that were around him, he guessed he was in woodland. Beside him, a broken jar of jam was lying with insects all over it. The dragon slayer smiled, remembering the events from last night.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

Natsu rolled onto his back, and found that Haru was standing above him with messy hair.

"Do you always watch people when they sleep? Or am I just a new fascination?" He said, smiling and propping himself on his elbows. Haru flattened his hair a little and rolled his eyes.

"I only came over here a couple of seconds ago, to try and terminate those bugs." Haru answered, pointing to the bug mess. Natsu sat up properly and shuffled away from it. He then looked around.

"Anyone else awake yet?" He asked. Haru held out his hand and Natsu took it, pulling himself onto his feet.

"Well…Yuki is, but she's getting breakfast. Well, trying- Mika is more of the chef here…"

"Yuki's food is poison."

They looked behind them and saw that Rinn was standing up slowly. He looked at the sleeping forms of Mika and Myron, and stepped over them.

"And that's putting it politely." He said, then started to kick some remaining sticks into the fire. Natsu looked at them curiously.

"How did you end up here?" The dragon slayer asked them both. He thought he might be invading privacy, but Haru seemed pleased at the question. His face broke into a grin.

"Here we go…" Rinn said and Haru spoke.

"When I was younger, about fifteen, I saw a car I really wanted to get, but my parents wouldn't let me."

"For unknown reasons.." Rinn said sarcastically, and Haru carried on.

"Anyway, one day I was just like, why don't I just take this thing?, so I did. When I passed it again, I just jumped in, and drove off. Later, the car crashed against a tree, and I knew then that I was past the point of no return."

Natsu laughed at the story, and turned to Rinn.

"What about you?" He asked. Rinn shrugged.

"I just walked out of town one day, and kept walking."

Suddenly, Myron stirred and turned to them.

"I fucked a girl…" He said drowsily, "and my lovely mother got pissed." He then rolled onto his back but made no attempt to get off the ground. All he did was tickle his dog, Villain, gently. The dog stirred.

"Get up, Villain…" He said and the dog made a grunting sound. The boys laughed quietly over the dog's antics.

"What time is it?" Myron asked, brushing his green hair out of his face.

"Dunno." Rinn said and looked across at Mika, who was the only person that was still sleeping.

"Who wants to wake Mika up?" Haru asked, following his gaze.

"I will." Natsu answered, walking over to the sleeping girl.

"Be fucking loud." Myron called behind him. Natsu grinned and bent down to Mika's ear. He then cleared his throat before:

"MIKA WAKE UP YOU LAZY FUCK!" Haru, Rinn and Myron collapsed in laughter and Mika yelled and sat up, knocking her and Natsu's heads together.

"Shit!" Mika yelled, rubbing her head. Natsu had fell onto the ground, clutching his forehead. The boys were now howling with laughter. Another voice with the noise made Natsu realise that Yuki had came back just at that moment.

"My poor head…" The dragon slayer moaned, sitting up slowly. Just then, Villain, the big black dog, came bounding up to him and started to lick every inch of his face. Natsu laughed and tried to push him away, but the dog wasn't deterred.

"Villain- stop attacking Creeper!" He heard Myron cry, and the dog leapt off him immediately and went to sit at his master's side.

"I found breakfast…" Yuki said, holding out some nice looking fruits, stifling her giggles.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Gray, Erza, Lucy and Happy arrived in Bosco to get to the location of their mission. However, they didn't speak much, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

"What is our mission again?" Gray said, wanting to distract himself from his thoughts.

"The flyer said that this guy wanted us to help with a problem in his town." Erza answered immediately, pulling out the piece of paper.

"What problem?" Lucy asked. Erza scanned the flyer.

"Says…that there is lots of 'street kids' in his town, and they cause 'havoc'" she started to read some of the flyer:

"'I want you to make sure that they stop creating chaos- I would do it but some of them look like mages. They eventually leave, but new ones always seem to take their place.'" The scarlet Mage folded up the paper again whilst walking and returned it to her pocket.

"Why did she pick this one?" Gray muttered as he walked, but he already knew the answer.

"Do distract us…and herself…" He said under his breath and put his hands in his pockets. Lucy was walking just ahead of him, and he could tell she was thinking the same thing; she was looking at the ground in thought.

"Come back, flame brain." He muttered, "Don't die on me…"

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Everybody ready for some walking!" Mika cried, prancing ahead of her friends with a smile on her face. She had a rucksack on her back which she kept taking off and swinging. Her friends were behind her, not as enthusiastic.

"Where do you get your. Fucking. Energy. From?" Myron asked, herding Villain in front of him. The dog barked and ran ahead, wagging his tail.

"Where did you get your dog from?" Natsu asked, watching the animal try to eat a fly. Rinn ran up to the dog and pretended he was going to pounce. Villain barked loudly and ran to the left playfully, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"I found him one day." Myron said, following Natsu's gaze. "I ran into a dark alleyway- away from a shop owner- when I saw him lying there, half dead. I gave him the food I brought and some water. He seemed okay after that and I left. When I turned around again- 'bout ten minutes later- the little shit was following me. Never has stopped following me since." Myron smiled at the memory.

"Wow." Natsu said.

"Know, right?" Yuki chimed in, pulling a leaf out of her red hair casually. "It's the perfect backstory for a movie. Seems unreal." Haru walked beside Natsu, smiling.

"And what's your perfect movie, Carrot top?" He said, "Yours and Reaper's wedding day?"

Yuki went red.

"No way!" She shouted and Mika stopped for a second. She then carried on, deciding she'd rather stay out of this one.

"Come on…Carrot top and Reaper? Good match." Myron said and Yuki blushed. Natsu laughed.

"I agree. I can see your child already…" The dragon slayer chimed in, "a skeleton with beautiful red locks…"

"An ugly skeleton…" Myron added.

"With a foul temper…"

"And born with black clothes already stuck to his body…" Haru teased. Yuki rolled her eyes.

"Good description guys…so accurate that I think that you lot have been looking in the mirror too much lately." She said.

"Oh snap!" Mika yelled from in front. "Girl power at its finest!" Natsu grinned and looked at the trees they were walking through.

"Where are we actually going?" Mika yelled from the front, reading his thoughts. Haru pushed his glasses up a little.

"We are entering Bosco." Haru said, pulling out a map from his pocket.

"Where's that?" Natsu asked. The name ring a bell.

"Dunno…" Haru muttered. "By Fiore somewhere…"

"Where's Fiore?" Rinn asked, walking backwards to get to them. Villain had a stick in his mouth, and bashed it against Myron's hip- it could reach there easily because of its size.

"Dunno…" Myron said and wrenched the stick from his dog's jaws. He then threw it and Villain went sprinting after it, barking.

"Good throw." Yuki said.

"Thanks, Carrot top."

They walked a while more, throwing sticks and chatting, until some buildings came in view behind the remaining trees in front of them.

"We are now entering Bosco." Myron said in a computer like voice. "Best known for being a complete failure and a pile of shit when it comes to civilisation…"

The group of friends laughed.

"Bit harsh." Haru said. "But true in lots of cases."

"But not food." Mika added and suddenly started yelling and waving. "Hey! Come here!"

Natsu looked ahead and saw that a bus was coming their way. It pulled up and the door opened.

"Hey kids- where ya goin'" the bus driver asked, leaning out of the gap. The group of friends smiled.

"The first stop that hits a town in Bosco." Haru said, pulling his bag further up his shoulder.

"Can do." The driver said And beckoned then in. He then held out his hand for money, and the group looked at each other uncertainty.

"Do you want to tell him, Blue Jay?" Myron said. She sighed.

"Blue jay?" The bus driver questioned.

"We had very cruel mothers." Natsu said quickly and the driver laughed.

"Look kids," He said, "I know ya don't have any money. Ya can see that from a mile away. But because I liked that joke, I'm gonna give ya a free ride."

Haru, Rinn, Yuki, Myron, Mika and Natsu cheered.

"What's your name?" Rinn asked, climbing in the front seat, behind the driver.

"That's none of your business." The driver said, smiling. Haru sat next to Rinn, dropping his bag onto the floor. Myron then sat behind them, and Natsu joined him.

"I thought our mothers were the cruel ones…" Myron said, grinning. The bus driver laughed loudly.

"Good kids…" he muttered happily.

Yuki and Mika sat themselves on the opposite side of Haru and Rinn.

"Do you mind dogs?" Myron called. A woman near the back glared at the noise.

"Is it trained?" The driver asked.

"Yup."

"Then he can come on."

"Villain!" Myron called and the dog cams trotting in the bus with its tongue out.

"Big dog!" The driver said.

"He gets that a lot."

"Love ya, That's None Of Your Business!" Mika cried happily. Rinn rolled his eyes.

"Tell me you didn't just call him that…" he said, brushing his fringe out of his face. Natsu smiled and looked out the window, pulling on his jacket properly. As he looked at the town coming towards him, he became lost in thought.

"Budge up!" Myron said and Natsu was face to face with a big, pink tongue all over again.

"Down, boy!" Myron said as always, and the dog somehow squashed itself into the middle causing Natsu to be crushed against the wall and Myron to be dangling off his seat. It was going to be a long journey, but Natsu was looking forward to it.

 **You like?**

 **Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"Here's your stop." The bus driver said and the group of teens struggled out of their seats.

"Why did we have to sit next to the dog!" Natsu cried, climbing over his seat and onto the ones in front. Haru had managed to get out, but Rinn was still sitting. Natsu fell onto his lap.

"Fuck!" Rinn said in shock, but calmed down quickly. "Well done. You have managed to break all the bones in my legs."

Natsu grinned.

"No problem." He said and rolled off, landing on the floor hard.

"Ouch." Mika said and pulled the dragon slayer up. Haru rolled his eyes, smiling, and picked up his bag.

"Let's go!" Haru cried.

"I'm staving…" Myron said, pushing Villain off the bus seat. As he said that, his stomach gave a loud grumble.

"Me too…" Natsu said, pulling his jacket on. He had to take it off before, because Villain kept pulling on its sleeve.

Yuki hopped off the bus first, waving at the bus driver. He waved back.

"There's probably a food store around here." Yuki said to Natsu and Myron, spinning around to face them both. Myron and Natsu tried to get off the bus at the same time; this resulted them tripping over not so gracefully. Haru, Yuki, Rinn and Mika snorted.

Finally, all of them managed to get off the bus and now they were walking around the town curiously. Mika was swinging her bag again.

"I assume, unless we have somehow won the lottery, that we don't have any money?" Rinn said.

"Yup!" Mika said happily and suddenly cried out.

"I found a super market!" She practically screamed, causing some passerby to stare. She wasn't bothered. Haru stared up at it.

"What's the plan, Zap?" Myron asked, walking forward.

"What do you think?" Haru answered. "Let's do the old fashioned theft."

"How many people?" Yuki asked.

"Two…that should be enough." Haru answered.

Rinn brushed his hair out of his face and joined the group.

"I saw a alleyway before…we could always run there" he suggested, "you know, if things get bad."

"Like your thinkin', man!" Myron said, grinning. Natsu watched his friends with curiosity. He didn't know what to think.

"Okay…" Haru said and looked around. He pointed at Yuki.

"You and…" he pointed to Natsu, "…You can get the food." Yuki smiled and Natsu and straightened herself a little.

"I am now your teacher." Yuki said and Natsu nodded happily, then smirked.

"You know…" he said, "if I wanted to get taught how to be as stupid as you, I would've just asked…"

"Burrrrrrrn!" Myron said laughing. Mika snorted. Haru was laughing so much he shrunk to the ground and Rinn was smiling in amusement.

"Okay…" Haru said, regaining his composure. "Joker, you will wait outside the store, just in case. Yes, with your dog. And Reaper, Carrot top and I will wait in the alley." Everybody nodded determinedly. Natsu picked up his bag, feeling excited with nerves. Yuki did the same, slinging hers over her shoulder.

"Go." Haru said and they split off casually, like they weren't going to steal from a store.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Gray, Erza, Lucy and Happy walked out of the house they were in. They went in there to have a brief talk with the man who sent the flyer.

"Geez…what kind of guy is that?" Lucy said, "pervert…"

"Happy," Erza said business like. "Could you scan the sky, and see if any trouble is breaking out." Happy nodded.

"Aye…" Happy said sadly and flew off.

"Wait! We are actually taking this seriously?!" Gray cried, shocked. The job was really pathetic. Make sure no trouble breaks out, was what the guy said. Stupid idea.

Erza gave the ice mage a deathly glare and turned her attention to the whole group.

"We will search the parks here first, then the town square." She said and no one argued. They set off, spirits not as high as they would be if a certain dragon mage was with them.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu slipped some nice looking biscuits into his bag casually, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. He looked up at Yuki, who was two shelves off; she gave a quick, short nod. Natsu nodded back, and slung his bag over his shoulder.

In his bag, along with the pack of biscuits, was a bar of chocolate, a pack of brioche and a pack of peaches. Also, there was some useless bits like a pencil he found on the floor and a pitiful amount of jewels- spare change that had collected over time.

It was a spare bag, so god knows what else was in there.

Natsu pretended to look at something on the shelf he was at, then started to walk out. Through the automatic doors, he could see Myron waiting with Villain sitting at his side. The sound of light footsteps told the dragon slayer that Yuki was behind him. Natsu smiled and walked outside and sighed at the fresh wind blowing into his face. Myron turned to face him and he had his black shades on.

"What did you get?" Yuki said, appearing from behind Natsu. Myron started to walk, and the other teens followed.

"Biscuits…err…peaches…brioche and chocolate."

"Chocolate!" Myron cried, grinning. "Clever shit."

"Well..." Yuki said. "I got some more pancakes...drinks and some dog treats."

Villain barked at 'dog treats.'

"Smart dog." Natsu said and turned into the alleyway.

"'Bout time!" Mika said, bounding up to them like an excited puppy. Rinn was leaning on the wall, fiddling with his nails and Haru was throwing a ball at a wall.

"I assume you haven't got caught." Rinn said, smiling. Haru walked over to them and took their bags.

"Let's see…" Haru said, looking inside them. "Drinks, dog treats, more pancakes, brioche, chocolate and biscuits!" As he said each item of food, he tossed them to Rinn and Mika, who inspected them.

"All in date!" Mika said happily. Natsu looked at them, confused.

"Why?" Natsu said. Mika smiled.

"Err, well, one time we 'ad some really nice crisps. Only, when we finished eatin' them, we found out they were outa date."

"I'm still scarred." Rinn said, doing a mock shudder. Suddenly, Myron pointed upwards to the sky.

"What the fuck is that?!" He cried. The friends looked up and saw something blue flying in the sky.

"I don't like it…" Rinn said darkly and quickly started stuffing the food into the bags again. Haru joined him.

"Come on…we better run." Haru muttered and Natsu took his bag from Rinn and slung it over his back. He kept thinking about the blue thing he saw a few seconds ago.

"What was that thing?" The dragon slayer muttered, breaking into a sprint down the damp alleyway. Villain was in front of them all, enjoying the run.

"Your pretty fast, aren' t ya?" Mika said from beside him. Natsu grinned.

Eventually, when they were sure it was safe, the group of teens stopped running, breathless. Even Villain was worn out.

"Fuck…" Myron panted and sat down on the floor. The others copied his behaviour, flopping down not-so elegantly.

"Where are we?" Rinn said, looking around.

"An alley of some sort." Haru answered.

"Well done, genius…"

Mika giggled.

"Well!" Natsu cried. "Now it' s a good time to eat!" The dragon slayer proceeded to zip open his bag and take out the brioche and peaches.

"Aw right!" Myron cried. "About fucking time!"

Haru scowled at him.

"Language." He said and took a peach from Natsu's hand. Yuki undid her bag and brought out drinks and the dog biscuits. She handed the dog biscuits to Myron, who opened them and pored them in front of his dog.

"Eat up." He said and Villain started to wolf the treats down. Natsu picked a drink and slipped his jacket off.

"Hey- what's that?" Rinn said, pointing to something on Natsu's arm.

"Huh?" The dragon slayer said and twisted his arm to get a better view.

He was surprised at what he found; it was a emblem of some sort, taking up a bit of his shoulder. However, it looked slightly faded.

"I dunno…" Natsu said and furrowed his eyebrows. "Can't remember…"

"Looks like a symbol." Haru said. Rinn rolled his eyes.

"Ah well!" Mika said happily, munching on her peach. "Doesn't matter, of ya can't remember."

Yuki sat up, curious.

"Can you remember how you got that scratch on your face?"

Natsu traces the scar.

"Nope!" He said, chewing on some brioche. "But does that matter?"

"Nah…" All the friends said simultaneously, and they meant it. If he couldn't remember, so what?

"We better get going." Haru said, standing up. "We have a big day of mucking about." Myron moaned.

"How can you eat that fucking fast?" He said in mock distress. "Savour it!" Still, he brushed away some of his green hair and got up. His dog picked up his bag with it' s teeth and bashed it against his leg.

"Good boy." Myron muttered, scratching the dog's ear affectionately. Natsu stood up, brushing some crumbs off his trousers. Once everybody was ready, the group headed out the alley, ready to explore the town.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Happy had flown around the town for a long time, and successfully managed to find some people who were trying to steal from a market stall. Apart from that, nothing.

Happy couldn't help but think of what he saw though, just as he was checking some alleyways.

He saw a flash of pink hair; the exact same shade as Natsu's.

"Was that you, Natsu?" Happy muttered, tears in his eyes. He had been flying to high to get a good glimpse of things and when he tried to turn back, he was gone, as if he'd never existed.

"I miss you Natsu." Happy whispered sadly.

 **Please review and say what you think! (Or a nice hello. I don't mind.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again!**

 **Thank you for reviewing, favouriting or following this story!**

 **I do not own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Happy was oddly silent as the group of mages walked back to the battered hotel they were staying in temporarily; the exceed kept looking behind him, as if he was expecting something. Finally, Lucy's curiousness took over her.

"What' s wrong Happy?" She said, catching the blue cat's attention. Erza and Gray stopped in their tracks, waiting for an answer- they too had noticed Happy's odd behaviour. Happy sniffed and looked away, flying in front of them.

"Nothing…" he muttered unconvincingly and Lucy suddenly grabbed his tail.

"Look, cat…" Lucy said softly, and Happy turned to face her, "we know something's bothering you…please talk." Happy looked away again and hovered in the air. The mages waited.

"Well today…" Happy started but then stopped to look at his teammates. They gave a encouraging nod and he carried on.

"I was flying above the streets, and I found some suspicious action…when I looked down…I saw…"

"Saw what?" Gray asked, hooked. Happy took a deep breath and the ice mage swore he saw tears glisten in the exceed's eyes.

"I thought I saw…I thought I saw Natsu!" Happy said quickly and quietly, and his tears splashed into the smooth tarmac below him. The mages froze, memories of Natsu flooding back to them; memories they had tried to push away during the last few days, to save themselves from loosing spirit.

"I know it probably wasn't him," Happy carried on bravely, tears dripping down his cheeks, "but still…"

"What exactly did you see?" Erza said quietly, her fringe covering her eyes. She was gripping her sword slightly and her hands were shaking.

"I saw his hair. Only one person could have had hair like that…"

Erza turned away and started walking again.

"Tell me if you see it again." She ordered and the group jogged to keep up with her.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu watched the sun sink behind the various buildings.

"Nice view." He muttered, smiling. He stretched his legs out wide.

"Yeah…look at all the pollution."

Natsu turned his head slightly and saw Rinn standing behind him with his arms folded.

"Are you always this negative?" Natsu asked jokingly. Rinn smiled slightly.

"I have a very black soul."

"Huh."

Rinn laughed.

"I tell you I have a black soul…" he said, grinning, "and you say, 'huh?'" The black haired teen threw a bottle at the dragon slayer.

"You might wanna come down from here…Yuki and Myron are trying to out do each other with insults." He said. Natsu grinned at the thought and started to climb down the roof he was sitting on. Natsu had found the abandoned building and decided that it would be nice to climb it.

"Can't miss that!" Natsu cried happily, deciding just to slide down the roof tiles instead of climbing all the way down. He could hear Rinn beside him, doing the exact same thing. The dragon slayer' smile grew wider as he started to hear the first sounds of an argument breaking out below.

"Jump!" Rinn cried but it was too late. Natsu tripped on the drain pipe of the roof and went flying over the edge, landing with a thump on top of someone.

"Holy macaroni!" came a muffled voice under him; unmistakably Mika's.

"Priceless." Myron said, laughing. Villain came bounding up to the dragon slayer and started licking his face.

"No-stop-need to stop crushing Mika!" Natsu tried to explain to the dog without getting a giant tongue in his mouth. The dragon slayer managed to roll sideways so he was no longer crushing Mika.

"I'm alive!" She cried, jumping up and spreading her arms wide. "Why, cruel world, why?!"

Myron laughed.

"Maybe this fucking world just wants to see you suffer." He said. Haru came into Natsu' s view, pushing up his black rimmed glasses.

"Language." He sighed and helped Natsu up.

"Yeah, Myron." Rinn said, stifling a laugh, "what if a kid heard you bad mouthing the world?"

"Shame on you." Yuki said, walking over with some biscuits in her hand. Natsu smiled at the sight of food and picked up his drink, which was rolling across the floor.

"Here." Yuki said and tossed the dragon slayer a biscuit, who caught it in his mouth.

"Impressive." Haru said, watching him. Natsu bowed.

"I always impress…"

Yuki snorted.

"Yeah…", She said and they sensed a burn coming on, "you impress me by proving you have enough intelligence to speak!"

Natsu mocked fainted into Haru's arms whilst applause and whooping roared around him. Any bystander would've thought some sort of explosion had taken place.

"QUIET!" a bossy voice shouted from the street; this only made the group of teens roar with laughter. Villain, getting excited, started to howl, making the whole situation worse.

Mika started to howl along first, but soon all members of the group were howling at a nonexistent moon.

"Some people are trying to sleep!" The voice yelled again. Natsu grinned, feeling cocky.

"If you're asleep at this hour," he yelled back, "you need to start rethinking your life choices!"

Again, whoops, cheers and howls broke out from the group. There was a sound of a window shutting, then silence spread across the street. It was late, after all.

"Echoooooo…" Mika said and cupped her ear, listening for a response. None came.

"Rejected." Yuki said and Mika yelled louder:

"Echoooooooooo!"

Nothing.

"The town's too big." Haru explained, "you won't hear your precious echo."

"Oh yeah?!" Mika said and was about to yell again, but Myron put a hand over her mouth, causing her to gasp out.

"Saved the day again." He said, grinning, "just call me and I'll c- arrh- WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Myron withdrew his hand that was over Mika's mouth disgustedly and wiped it on his trousers. Mika was in hysterics.

"Did you lick him, by any chance?" Haru asked.

"Yup!" Mika answered with a proud grin.

"Unbelievable."

Yuki stood in between them both to get their attention.

"Guys!" She yelled. "Who's up for pissing off this neighbourhood more?" They all nodded and all took a deep breath.

And howled.

Villain joined in again, wagging his tail.

They did this until they ran out of breath, then Haru picked up a can from the floor and threw it at the window which the person who was shouting at them was in. It smashed against the glass, cracking it slightly.

"Score!" Haru yelled before saying, "I think we ought to go…before we get chased from the police."

"Good idea." Myron said and they all left, just before a angry face peered out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya again!**

 **I don't own fairy tail…**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu had weird dreams that night.

 _He was smaller than he was now, and was running across a green field._

 _"You can't catch me!" He screamed in delight, staggering slightly from laughing. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind knocked him over and left him lying on his back, giggling._

 _"Got you."_

 _Natsu opened his eyes and saw himself staring at a red dragon, who seemed to be smiling._

 _"That's because I let you." The young dragon slayer said, sticking out his bottom lip. The dragon laughed and it sounded like distant thunder._

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Gray dreamed of Natsu that night.

 _Gray looked around the blank landscape, wondering where he was; the ice mage suddenly spotted a familiar pink haired mage in front of him, about ten metres away._

 _"Natsu?" Gray breathed, walking foreword. Natsu didn't react in any way and stayed where he was, facing away from him._

 _"Natsu!" Gray yelled louder and started to sprit towards the dragon slayer; still, he didn't react. Gray ran faster, feeling like Natsu might disappear from his view._

 _And that's when the ground started to split beneath him, threatening his path towards Natsu._

 _"Natsu!" Gray cried out desperately, jumping over cracks. Natsu still didn't turn to look at him._

 _"Natsu! Come on!" He yelled, now tripping frequently. He could feel himself slowing down; the cracks in the ground were expanding open- some of the gaps were already too big to jump across._

 _He wasn't going to make it._

 _It would_

 _Only_

 _One misjudged jump was all it took, and the ice mage was falling down into blackness._

 _"Find me…"_

 _Gray turned his head towards the voice. Natsu's voice._

 _Pleading._

 _Gray felt tears spring into his eyes._

 _"I will Natsu!" He screamed, tears spilling out of his eyes as he fell, "I will find you!"_

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Gray woke up in a cold sweat. He slowly starting to register where he was whilst he sat up in his bed.

He was in his hotel room, alone.

The ice mage brushed some of his hair out of his face and closed his eyes, reflecting on his dream.

"Natsu…" he muttered.

A knock on his door pulled Gray from his thoughts.

"Gray?" Erza's voice was slightly irritated and had a sharp, bossy tone to it.

Just great. He really needed to get told of by Erza right now.

"Gray!" She said, louder, "I want everyone ready in twenty minutes!"

"Yeah…" Gray said and found that his voice was horse from shouting.

Probably from his dream.

The ice mage heard Erza hesitate by the door, then leave.

"Great." Gray muttered, pulling off his bed sheets. He wasn't shocked to find that he somehow managed to strip his nightclothes off in the night; the pieces of clothing were lying at the side of his bed, discarded.

Stupid habit.

Gray groaned to himself, reading the time off the alarm clock on his bedside table.

Stupid job.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"I had a weird dream last night." Natsu said as he and his friends were picking up their belongings off the floor of the alleyway they had slept in for the night.

"What was it about?" Haru asked from his left, swinging his rucksack over one of his shoulders. Natsu shook his head at the memory, which was already fogging in his mind.

"A dragon." The dragon slayer said casually, and began to walk out of the alley. Mika let out a short burst of laughter.

"A dragon!" She said, eyes sparkling, "I waaaant one!" Myron walked past her, yanking her ponytail, causing her to cry out. He walked beside Natsu, and scratched his head.

"Doesn't sound too fucked up…" he said, stifling a yawn. This caused Natsu to yawn shorty after.

"What made it weird?" Rinn asked, herding Villain the right way out of the alley. Yuki was walking behind him pulling her bag onto her back.

Natsu saw the first slits of daylight and shielded his eyes slightly.

"I was very small." The dragon slayer said, raising his voice a little to get heard over the early morning crowd, "and I was playing with him."

"Now that's fucked up." Myron laughed and put on his shades. The group turned left and started walking into the unknown.

"Not that much." Haru said, pushing up his glasses. He then brushed his fringe out of his face before continuing. "Though the weird thing is that Creeper was actually socialising." He finished with a grin and a friendly shove at the dragon slayer.

"True." Yuki said. Natsu laughed. Last time he came across someone (yesterday night) his friends started to have a random conversation with him. It turned out he was a tourist, who was stopping off at this place for a while.

Natsu wanted to speak to him- he really did- but when he tried, no sound came out. He went completely mute.

"Why were you small?" Haru asked. Natsu shrugged.

"How's he meant to know, genius?" Rinn asked, doing his signature eye roll.

"Hey hey hey!" Mika said, leaping in front and pretending to split Haru and Rinn up, "no arguing! We have food to find!"

"Or just steal." Yuki said.

"I like the term 'permanently borrowing'" Haru added, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Sounds better." Natsu concluded. Myron stuffed his hands in his red hoodie.

"Because we never would do anything like that." He said, grinning.

The friends laughed, earning stares off passers by.

"Wha' about tha' place?" Mika asked, giggling weakly, and pointed to a small shop placed in between two larger buildings. It looked left out.

"Looks like a good place." Myron said, "What do you think, Zap?"

Haru hummed in thought.

"As long as we have a place to run to…" he said finally. Natsu grinned.

"Come on then! Let's go!" He yelled, running ahead of them. Mika started to run with him happily and beckoned her friends to follow.

"Just what I like- running." Haru sighed as he watched Villain dart off with his tongue hanging out. Myron started to run after his dog.

"Come on, slow coaches!" He yelled.

"I am not slow!" Yuki yelled angrily, and she started running after him. "I can run a million times faster than you!"

Rinn and Haru looked at each other sadly.

"We better get going." Rinn said.

"Yup."

And they ran, reluctantly, to the food store ahead of them.

 **Sorry this is so short- I've had a mental block…**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry it's been so long!**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu leaned on the wall casually outside the small shop, waiting for some kind of signal. This time, he had been chosen to stand guard with Villain for some company.

The dragon slayer scratched the dog's ear fondly. He closed his eyes, relaxing in the peaceful silence.

"Hey! Fuck you dude! Zap! We gotta do a runner!"

Well, Natsu thought straightening up quickly and clapping his hands to gain the dog's attention, that didn't last long.

Myron suddenly burst out the glass doors, chucking something back behind him. There was a surprised yell, then Haru came tumbling out with his glasses screw, but otherwise happy.

"Love the locals, don't you?" He said, grinning. Natsu laughed and pulled Villain to his feet.

"We better run." Myron said and dramatically pulled off his shades.

"Stop! Thieves!" Somebody called inside the building and the group took it as their queue to make a run for it. Villain barked and joined them, just as a angry looking shopkeeper burst out of the doors of the store.

"Stop!" She yelled and pointed to Haru.

"Come and catch us, cock face!" Myron yelled back at her, laughing. Haru gasped and ran faster.

"Language!" He scolded. Natsu laughed at their antics as he dodged bins and confused pedestrians. He turned a corner and Yuki suddenly appeared at his side.

"I heard a yell." She stated and ran with them before they could ask questions.

"Aw. You do care." Natsu said and received a playful whack around the head. He grinned.

"What did you- turn left- manage to get?" Yuki asked, interrupting herself to tell the route to Mika and Rinn.

"I got some cereal." Myron said proudly, "and I had a carton of milk but I threw it at that shitty store keepers head. I missed, unfortunately."

The group slowed down into a walk, realising no one was in hot pursue of them anymore.

"Idiot." Yuki panted, "But I would've done the same."

"I did you proud then." Myron said and scratched his dog's ears whilst saying, "who's a stupid doggie?"

Haru wiped his brow, sighing in relief.

"That shopkeeper had hold of me for a second or two." He said and wrinkled his nose. "She had definitely had a drink or two last night- She reeked of it."

"Worst two seconds of your life, then?" Natsu asked. Haru shrugged.

"It comes just after smashing that motorbike I stole."

"Hey guys!"

Mika came bounding up to them like a excited puppy. She looked at her friends up and down.

"Ya had to run, didn't ya? Ha!" She said and snatched Haru's bag off him. She unzipped it and began to search.

"Ya only got some crackers?!" She asked appalled.

"And cereal." Haru added, pointing to Myron; Myron shook his bag encouragingly. Mika smiled.

"Ya are forgiven." She said, bowing jokingly, "now you shall die."

Rinn came strolling into their view with his hands in his pockets and a small smile on his face.

"I'm glad it wasn't my turn." He said and tickled Villain under the chin; the dog briefly wagged his tail and then lay down, exhausted.

"Poor dog." Natsu stated, "I feel like this is animal cruelty."

-#!-#!-#!

Master Mokarov sighed and leaned back in his chair sadly. Lately, he hadn't been himself- it felt like, since Natsu had gone missing, that some part of him had disappeared.

He sighed again and looked out the window beside him, wondering where the dragon slayer was at the moment; that is, if he was alive.

"Can't think like that." Mokarov muttered, disgusted with himself.

"Master! Master!"

Mokarov turned around just as the door slammed open, revealing Gajeel and Wendy- the female dragon slayer was concealing something behind her back.

"What is it?" Mokarov asked, sensing something was important.

"Me and Wendy went on a mission a few days ago…" Gajeel explained and Wendy took over.

"And when we were tracking someone.." she pulled the mysterious object from behind her back. Mokarov gasped and walked over to it.

It was Natsu's scarf.

He picked up the item of clothing and stroked it carefully in his hands. It was a little battered, but otherwise intact.

"We tried to track his sent, but we lost it because of all the water." Wendy finished, upset.

"You did your best, Wendy. You too, Gajeel." Mokarov said, "You must tell the others in the guild. I will go and find Gray, Ersa, Lucy and Happy." Determinedly, Wendy and Gajeel nodded and ran out the door.

A few seconds later, cheers could be heard from miles around, coming from inside the guild walls.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello to all!**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

It was silent in the hotel room, apart from the occasional sound of a weapon being re-quipped. This was what it had been like for the past twenty minutes: Erza switching swords absentmindedly, Lucy staring at her hands and Gray leaning against the wall; Happy was sleeping on the bed nearest to the window.

They had been told by the town mayor that they had deserved a break.

"Really, we're fine." Gray had said but the mayor wasn't having it.

"You must!" He had said happily, "You have helped our town enough for today!"

So now, here they were, in the hotel room, meant to be having their break.

The truth was, all of them had agreed to the job so they could take their minds off things; now, all they could think about was how Natsu used to spend his breaks with them- it wasn't the same without the dragon slayer.

"Damn it." Gray muttered under his breath, looking around the room. He needed to get out. Gray clenched his fists and walked to the door- he could feel Erza's glare on his back, but didn't care.

Gray was about to turn the handle when a knock came from the other side of the door.

Gray looked back at Erza and Lucy. They shrugged.

"Better open it." Lucy whispered. Gray did so, and was shocked to find Master Mokarov standing there.

"Master!" Gray exclaimed and bowed in respect.

"Master?" Erza questioned and then caught glance of the short man in the doorway. "We didn't realise you were coming."

"I wasn't planning to, but I have something to show you." Master replied, stepping inside the room. Gray shut the door quietly and walked next to where Lucy sat.

"What do you want to show us?" Lucy asked. Suddenly, Happy stirred and opened his eyes, awakening from his sleep. The blue cat caught sight of Master Mokarov and gasped.

"Master…I didn't realise you were here!" He gasped.

"It's alright…I just came now."

"Oh…Good."

Happy uncurled himself and stood up, listening to what Mokarov has to say.

"Wendy and Gajeel found this on their most recent mission." He said and pulled out Natsu's scarf out from his robes; the mages' eyes widened in shock. Lucy let out a small, chocked back sob as she stared at the item of clothing- thousands of memories erupted in her mind.

The time Natsu pretended he was a ninja.

The time they all spent a day at the beach.

The time she first seen his scarf, not knowing what strong friendship would evolve from that first meeting.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Erza was, for once, speechless.

She could feel tears start to form in her eyes, and for once she didn't stop them.

All that she could think of, when staring at Natsu's scarf, was all the times that she had to thank the dragon slayer for being…there.

Always, Erza realised, when she saw that scarf, she felt…safe.

You only know how important your friends are to you when they are no longer there, Erza thought sadly.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

To Gray, Natsu's scarf was always in his face. Literally. Gray had fought Natsu so many times he could no longer keep count, and during the many brawls they had, Natsu's scarf had somehow slapped itself into his face.

Gray had always hated this at the time, but now he realised why he never complained or made any effort to brush it away- Natsu's scarf had been a reassurance to Gray that the dragon slayer was still there, and would always stay in his sight…

Until now.

Gray felt more hopeless than ever.

To him, that scarf made him feel guilty for all those times he took Natsu for granted.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Warmth. Joy. Safety.

Happy was instantly reminded of those feeling he had forgotten ever since Natsu went missing.

Igneel's scarf was always the thing that Happy snuggles into when he needed a hug, or when he was sleepy.

Natsu had always been there for him, ever since he hatched.

Now that Natsu was gone, the scarf was now only a painful reminder of all the memories he had shared with the dragon slayer, and all those times when Happy needed to feel safe.

Still:

Warmth. Joy. Safety.

Happy wanted to hug Natsu again, and snuggle into his scarf once more.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"They found it close by to a river," Mokarov explained to the stunned mages, "and lost his scent because of the water."

"Do you think he fell?" Lucy asked. Gray shook his head.

"Knowing Natsu," he reassured, "he would've done it on purpose."

"Gray's right." Erza said, "I don't think Natsu would be careless enough to fall, to be honest."

Mokarov handed Igneel's scarf to Happy, who took it gratefully.

"I expect that you want to look for him again?" Mokarov asked with a sigh. The group nodded. "Then I won't stop you…AFTER you finish this mission."

"We're almost done here anyway, Gramps." Gray said. Mokarov smiled at the nickname and made his way to the door.

"I have to get back to Fairytail, or I fear the place will be in ruins." He said and Erza nodded in understanding. Mokarov gave a wave and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Who's idea was it to trip up the waiter again?!" Yuki yelled angrily as the friends turned a corner.

"It was funny!" Myron yelled back at her.

"It was." Natsu backed up and started to laugh breathlessly at the memory.

The group of friends had decided to stop at a café to get something to eat; the problem was, they had no money.

Haru has came up with a plan to pretend that they had the money until they had ate the meal, then run.

The plan wasn't one of his best.

However, the waiter wanted the money upfront, and that's when Myron tripped him over.

And then, they ran.

"We'll have to split…" Haru said breathlessly, looking at the passers by. "We are causing to much attention."

He was right. People were stopping to watch the chase, or were joining in.

"Meet at the park, right?" Natsu suggested.

"Good idea. Ready?"

"Three, two, one…" Rinn counted down.

"Go!" Mika yelled loudly and took a sharp left. Yuki doubled back slightly and turned into a alley. Rinn then turned left, and taken a different route to Mika's. Haru turned right and slipped down a hill, Myron and Villian turned into a alleyway close to them and Natsu ran straight ahead.

"Bye for now!" Mika yelled loudly and Natsu did a wave, despite the fact that she wasn't facing him. The dragon slayer looked behind him and found that the small crowd chasing then was more disorganised- however, some stubborn people were still chasing him. He ran faster, and tried desperately to dodge all the people on the pavement.

"Fuckers…" Natsu panted, looking behind him again.

Yep, three of his chasers were still there.

Suddenly, Natsu felt himself crash into someone, and he went flying into the air. The dragon slayer gasped- he must of fell right over the poor person…

All too quickly, Natsu felt himself hit the pavement on his side and he skidded a few metres; the dragon slayer winced and stayed on the floor when he had finally stopped moving- he could feel some blood dampening his trousers and shirt; he must be scraped pretty bad, then.

Natsu groaned, remembering he was meant to be running away, and slowly tried to get up; he only got into a more kneeling position before pain erupted in his injured side- not too severe, but enough to make him gasp.

"Did I trip you up? I'm sorry for that."

Natsu looked up and saw a short man- a really short man- dusting himself off with his back turned to him. This man was old, wore clothes that were only in the colours of blue and orange, and was holding a small staff with a smiley face in it. Something about this old man sparked in Natsu's memory, but it went as soon as it came.

"Are you hurt bad? I think you fell way harder than me…" The man said and turned around to face him, holding his hand out.

For some unknown reason to Natsu, the man's eyes went wide and he suddenly seemed speechless. Natsu gave him a confused look and picked himself off the ground carefully, ignoring the offered hand. The man didn't seem to notice, but he kept staring at him as if he knew him. Natsu wanted to ask him 'what?' but his tongue seemed to be stiff inside his mouth.

Natsu wanted to speak, but once again he was completely mute to the stranger.

The only sound that he made was a half gasp sort of sound.

"Natsu?" The old man uttered; now the dragon slayer was completely freaked out.

' _How do you know my name?!'_ Natsu wanted to cry out, but no sound came out. Instead, he gave a panicked look to the stranger. He tired to walk away, but the shorter man caught hold of his wrist.

Something suddenly snapped in Natsu.

He didn't want to get touched.

Not by anyone.

Not by a stranger.

He didn't like this physical contact.

A memory in Natsu erupted:

 _A cruel hand running along his waist and a knife to his throat._

" _Don't move or you will die." A cold voice said and he was roughly pulled towards a man unwillingly, and he could feel the man's hands grip him around the waist..._

Natsu tugged out of the old man's grasp sharply, and stepped back.

"Natsu?" The man questioned and stepped towards him; Natsu immediately stepped back again.

Then he turned, and ran.

 **By the way, the reason that Natsu is mute because of the trauma he experienced when he got kidnapped ant tortured.**

 **Just so you know.**

 **Please R &R!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey I'm back!**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu reached the park gates, panting, and slowed to a painful walk.

"Who was the creepy old dude?" He muttered and he walked on the gravelled path, "And how did he know my name?"

The dragon slayer forgot about his troubled thoughts, however, when he heard some familiar voices shout out from inside the swing area.

"Hey!"

"What the fuck?!"

"You brung that on!"

"Did not!"

"Actually, you did…"

"Shut up, Zap."

Natsu entered the swing area, and found all of his friends squashed together on a spider swing, yelling and screeching. The dragon slayer smiled and crept up behind them; then, he started to push the swing with all of his might.

"Holy fuck!" Myron yelled and Yuki gripped onto the ropes; Rinn and Mika cried out in surprise and held onto anything available. Haru managed to turn himself around.

"Hey, Creeper." He said and Natsu grinned before pushing again, earning more yells from the squashed group. Rinn and Yuki knocked against each other and Natsu cried out.

"Love is in the air!" Rinn turned pink and rolled his eyes whilst Yuki turned to the same colour as her hair.

"I can hear the wedding bells." Myron added, almost slipping off after a particularly hard push. Yuki watched him around the head angrily, but not too hard to hurt. Still, Myron pretended he was dying, as always.

"Ow! She got me…" he moaned before dying dramatically on the redheads lap. Mika and Haru laughed.

"Hey," Myron added, gripping onto the rope with a free hand, "if you two have kids, can you make me godfather?"

Natsu laughed and was now having to jump to reach the swing, which was now swinging more violently. Mika shrieked happily as the ride increased in speed.

"You bastard!" Yuki yelled angrily and went to hit him playfully again, but forgot to hang onto the rope; she fell off the swing and onto the ground on her knees. Natsu gripped onto the swing and dug his feet into the ground to stop it, causing a few more yells.

"Your turn, Carrot top!" Natsu said her nickname, just to get on her nerves. Yuki grinned sarcastically and got up- this caused her to notice the blood patch on Natsu's side.

"What did you do?" She asked and pointed to the place. The dragon slayer shrugged.

"Remind me to tell you all later." He clamber on the swing, nudging Haru out of the way. Haru grumbled but moved and the dragon slayer grabbed hold of the black netting at the bottom.

"Three, two, one, go!" Mika yelled and Yuki started to push surprisingly hard.

"Whoaaa!" Haru wobbled, but then righted himself again; he was one of the unfortunate that were sitting around the edge of the swing, making it harder for him to hold on.

Yuki grinned and pushed harder, and soon she was having to jump like Natsu had to; all the way through, the friends on the swing let out yells and shrieks- Rinn had swore loudly at one point when Mika accidentally fell on top of his lap.

"Guys- shhh!" Natsu muttered briefly, struck with a idea that would piss Yuki off; he opened his mouth, and burst into song:

"Carrot top and Reaper sittin' in a tree…"

The group laughed and joined in.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Yuki let out a angry yell and suddenly pushed the swing so hard that it flipped over, causing everybody to fall out apart from Natsu; he was still gripping the rope beneath him and was hanging upside down, cross legged. He burst into a grin.

"I win!"

"Not fair."

"Rematch, dude!"

Villain barked in excitement and jumped on top of Myron, crushing him.

"No! Down boy!" He yelled but it was no use- the dog was licking his face so much he could barely speak.

"No- I win, doofus!" Yuki yelled. "I got the most people off!"

Natsu grinned and climbed down from his position- this caused a sharp pain on his graze, which he couldn't manage to hide.

"Ah shit. Forgot about that." He hissed and stood up slowly. His friends rushed over to him, noticing the wound for the first time, apart from Yuki.

"Hold your shirt up." Haru ordered.

"Really, it's not that bad…"

"Then you would let me check."

Natsu sighed whilst Myron laughed.

"You sound like my dear old Mama, Zap…" He said with fake tears, causing the brunette to smile whist he examined Natsu.

"Ouch…" Mika said into the silence.

"How did you get that?" Rinn asked, "did you trip over a bug?"

Natsu grinned.

"Nope- a titchy old man." Natsu made a small gap in between his forefinger and thumb. "This big…"

Rinn rolled his eyes, smiling whilst Mika laughed. Haru pulled his shirt down, to his relief, and pushed his glasses up slightly.

"Good to go, doc?" Natsu asked cheekily.

"Just about…"

"How did you trip over Mr titchy cock anyway?" Myron asked and they all laughed at the nickname.

"Wasn't looking…" Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, and added as a last thought, "but he did know my name though…"

"He KNEW your name?!" Mika gasped, "Oh my god he must be a physic!"

More laughter.

"I think he must of overheard us calling his name in public." Haru said confidently. Natsu nodded.

"Yeah…probably did, the stalker…" The dragon slayer took off his jacket.

"Come on- you scared of a guy with a tiny cock?" Yuki said loudly and they all laughed again.

"I would be if I were lookin' at it!" Mika cried and they all shrieked with laughter- even Villain started to bark, despite being wrestled to the ground moments before by a drool covered Myron.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Mokarov tried to follow Natsu.

Why was he so afraid?

The guild master wanted to find out.

However, this town in Bosco was full of endless mazes of alleyways and buildings; after a few minutes, Mokarov had to admit that he had lost Natsu completely.

"Was that really you?" He muttered to himself as he walked past a park entrance; inside he could hear loud yells and curses. Mokarov considered going in there, and telling the voices to stop, but found that his heart was not in it- instead, he walked past the gates, intending to go back to Erza, Gray, Lucy and Happy; they would want to know the developing news of his friend.

 **Please review!**

 **Bye!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"Here?!" Gray cried out, shocked.

"He didn't recognise you?!" Lucy stammered.

"He ran?" Erza said, confused.

Master Mokarov has just finished telling them his strange encounter with Natsu, and now Erza, Gray, Lucy and Happy were staring at him, shocked.

"Yes." Mokarov answered all three questions.

"I knew it…" Happy muttered, staring at the floor, "as soon as I saw his hair a couple of days ago…but I didn't want to get my hopes up…"

Lucy tickled Happy's ear in a comforting way. Gray stood up suddenly, and made his way to the door.

"We gotta go search for him!"

"Master." Erza asked, and Gray paused with his hand hovering over the handle. "May we search now?" Mokarov nodded, and Gray proceeded to open the door. Erza followed him, and Lucy paused to give thanks to her guild Master. Happy flew over her head, eager to get out and find his friend. Master watched them go, smiling slightly at their determination.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu closed his eyes and relaxed in the heat of the sun, relishing the peace.

"This is niiiice…" Mika sighed, lying down next to the dragon slayer. Natsu nodded.

"Yeah…"

"Come on, boy! Get the stick! Go!" He heard Myron say a few metres off.

"He won't do it…"

"Shut up, Zap."

Natsu opened his eyes and saw that Myron was pointing at a stick over enthusiastically; next to him, Villain was wagging his tail madly, but did not make any attempt to get the stick. Haru was behind Myron, shaking his head with a grin on his face.

"I think Zap's got a point, Joker." Rinn said, sitting himself next to Mika and pulling his jacket off. Myron did a rude symbol with his finger at him and proceeded to shout at his dog.

"STICK! Get the STICK!" Yuki sighed and called Villain over, who was still wagging his tail at his master stupidly.

The dog looked back at Yuki, then Myron, then Yuki again, then trotted over to get the stick and lay down where it was.

"That dog's got a attitude problem." Rinn stayed while Myron stood there with his mouth open, staring at his dog.

"Fuck you." He said and sat down. Villain looked over at him and walked over with the stick in his mouth and sat on his lap; the dog wagged it's tail a few times, then started to tear the stick apart with his teeth.

"I can't feel my legs." Myron said, but stroked Villain fondly. The friends laughed at the dog's antics.

"Hey! Park's closing! Get out!" a sharp voice called from behind them; without looking at the person, Natsu replied:

"No."

Myron turned around to face the man.

"Fuck off!" He yelled and the dragon slayer heard the man gasp.

"Get out of my park or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Haru said, rolling his eyes, "whack us with your walking stick? You're not exactly young yourself."

Mika sniggered.

"I would be surprised if he could lift tha' walkin' stick at all!"

They all shrieked with laughter.

"Just go home, you washed up piece of shit who only has a park for company." Rinn added. Natsu turned around and saw that a old man, about seventy, was leaning heavily on a worn walking stick and was so angry that it looked like his eyes were going to pop.

"Maybe he lives in the pond here." Natsu said to his friends- he found that if he was talking to them, he wouldn't become mute in front of a stranger. "It would explain why he looks like a ugly toad."

Cries of 'burrrrn' came from his friends. The old man, not knowing what to do, gave a frustrated yell and walked away.

"I'll lock you in then!" He cried out and started muttering under his breath.

The friends burst out laughing- Mika started to cry because she was laughing so hard.

"What a bad tempered old man." Haru said in between his laughter. "Still, I think we will leave tomorrow." He said this with seriousness, and Natsu found himself agreeing.

"Zap's right- the stupid guy will report us to some mages or someone like that tomorrow."

"Fair point, Creeper." Yuki agreed and started to pick some grass from the floor, and started to sprinkle it on Mika. Mika didn't notice until some floated down onto her nose.

"Hey!" She cried and threw some grass back. Yuki yelled angrily and threw more clumps; Haru shook his head wearily, whilst Myron cried out happily at the girl's antics.

"Girls are weird…" Haru muttered and Natsu and Rinn laughed; Myron, however, didn't hear because he was shouting at the top of his voice:

"FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"

Yuki managed to pin Mika down, and shoved some grass in her mouth.

"Not- fair- you- bitch!" Mika shouted whilst trying to spit the grass out. Natsu burst into laughter, which spread around the group.

"You two are priceless." Rinn smiled, and Yuki brushed some grass off her trousers.

"She started it." She answered and Haru rolled his eyes.

"No, you did." He stated bluntly, but he was smiling.

"Did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No way!"

"I give up…"

Natsu laughed and closed his eyes.

"Night, Bosco. If I forget to say, you're a piece of shit."

-#!-#!-#!-#!

They had searched everywhere.

Gray had searched the west of the town, Erza searched the north, Lucy the south and Happy the east.

But they found nothing.

And all too soon it had turned dark, and the group had to abandon their attempts for the day.

Gray sighed and gave the park gates a shake, to find that they were locked.

"Damn it…" He muttered, not seeing how and why Natsu would go inside a locked park. Gray sighed and reluctantly moved to the direction of the hotel.

There was always tomorrow.

 **You like? Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hiya again!**

 **I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Haru woke up first as always and pulled out the map from his trouser pocket.

"If we leave soon…" the brunette muttered, tracing a line on the paper, "then we should be able to catch this train…"

"Could you mutter quieter?" A voice said from behind him sleepily; Haru turned around and saw Natsu sitting up slowly, yawning.

"I thought you liked the beautiful sound of my voice. Besides, I thought I wasn't speaking that loud." Haru looked back at the map in his hands again and began to trace more lines.

"Oh, you were." Natsu answered and crawled over to where Haru sat and peered over his shoulder, cocking his head.

"Where we goin'?" The dragon slayer asked curiously; Haru stopped tracing a blue line and placed his map on the grass in front of him.

"I dunno…Fiore or Seven?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Errr…we'll vote on it." Natsu suggested and looked around at the sleeping forms around him. "…when they eventually wake up." Haru nodded.

"Good idea."

Natsu stood up, knocking Haru sideways accidentally, and stretched with another loud yawn.

"Watch it." The brunette said at his tumbled onto Yuki, who woke up with a yell.

"What the fu-"

"Language."

Natsu laughed as Yuki glared.

"Ahhh…language…funny…" The dragon slayer muttered and, not sensing the ginger's tension, walk across her glare and picked up the map which was threatening to blow away.

"Did my ears deceive me, or was that the dulcet tones of Carrot top's voice?" Myron said from behind them all, and went to help Haru up, who was lying on the floor, stunned. As he did this, he gave Mika a light kick.

"Piss off…" she muttered and rolled over, right into Villain's face. The dog immediately started to lick her face sleepily, thinking that the girl would like it. She did not.

"Ew ew ew ew ew!" Mika jumped up and started to frantically wipe her face whilst the others laughed. Villain, not knowing what he did wrong, started to bark and run around in circles.

"I'm awake!" Mika yelled and pushed the black dog away, who was trying to jump up. Rinn yawned and sat up, disturbed by the noise.

"I guess I am too. Thanks."

"Hey! It was tha' dog, not me!"

"Good. Now that everyone is awake," Haru began, and Mika fell silent, "what place next? Fiore or Seven?"

"Oh yeah…I forgot we were leaving today." Myron said and out his shades on, "Well, I better pack. I pick Fiore." Myron proceeded to start kicking some loose jackets and sandals into a pile; Villain picked a sandal up and ran off.

"Oi! That's mine you idiot!" Natsu yelled angrily and ran after the dog in his bare feet. Haru sighed and turned back to Yuki and Mika, waiting for their opinion.

"Well, I pick Fiore, 'cause the name is more creative than Seven." Mika said and dodged Villain, who was still carrying Natsu's sandal. Natsu came running a few seconds after, muttering lots of rude things under his breath.

"I choose Seven." Rinn said from behind them as he stood up and watched Natsu and Villain amusedly, "Because seven is a lucky number." Haru rolled his eyes.

"It's just a number." The brunette turned to face him and Rinn shrugged.

"Whatever you say, brain box, but I still pick Seven."

"Is Seven that place that had a stupid fucking dictator?" Myron called and he avoided a sprinting Natsu, who was now trying to rugby tackle the dog. Haru face palmed.

"Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea. Forgot about that." He said and Myron burst into laughter.

"What?"

"Sugar Honey Iced Tea! You're too innocent for this world. Apart from when you stole the car. And the motorbike." Myron started laughing again and Haru rolled his eyes.

"Anyway…I guess it's Fiore then?" Haru folded up his map, which had been dumped on the floor.

"Yup." Yuki said, nodding, "unless we want to die in our beds."

"We don't have any beds." Myron piped in as he purposefully tripped over Natsu, who went flying through Haru's make shift bed.

"You know what I mean!" Yuki yelled and started to begin packing her rucksack furiously.

"I bet she is wishing that was your head." Natsu said from the ground to Myron.

"Aye."

Natsu froze. Why did that word sound so familiar?

 _He was in a centre of a big crowd of unknown people and was, yet again, smaller than he was now. In his hands was a egg which seemed to be hatching…_

 _Faded voices…it was like Natsu was hearing through fog…_

 _But the younger him watched in fascination as the egg glowed brighter and brighter, then…_

 _A tiny, blue cat came out of the light and into the dragon slayer's arms._

 _ **He's not a dragon!**_ _Natsu thought and a silver haired girl spoke from his side._

 _"He's like a blue bird of happiness!" She said happily and Natsu thought._

 _"Ok, then he can be called Happy!" He yelled and the small winged cat gave a small:_

 _"Aye!"_

"Hey Creeper!"

Natsu was jerked back into reality and found that Mika was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh?" Natsu said, confused on what he just remembered.

"You kinda…zoned out." Mika explained.

"Why did you?" Haru asked from next to him. Natsu predicted that he was checking his pulse earlier. Typical Haru.

"I think I had a memory…" he muttered and his friends leaned in, waiting for the news.

"I remembered a blue cat…" Natsu tried to remember anything else from the memory, but the small memories were drifting out of his mind.

"A blue cat!" Yuki cried out, shocked at the idea.

"I thought I was strange." Rinn said, smiling. Natsu picked himself up from the ground.

"Yeah…it was weird…"

Suddenly, a clock chimed 8 times and Haru looked like he just had a mental breakdown.

"We've got to get to the station in 10 minutes!" He yelled and started to pack his bag at double speed. The friends froze for a few seconds, then did the same.

"If we're late I blame…Rinn fir being so negative about everything!" Yuki cried just as Rinn was saying that "they would miss the train"

"Piss off."

"Language."

"Are you fucking serious?!"

Two minutes later, the group of friends were leaping across the park gates (or in Villain's case digging under them) and dashing to the nearest station, carelessly knocking pedestrians out of the way.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"No I insist! You must go back to Fiore! Get some rest! Me and my police will look out for your friend!" The mayor of the town cried as Erza, Happy, Gray and Lucy looked at each other, wordlessly deciding what to do.

'We need to stay.' Lucy's glance said but was over powered by Erza's 'I agree with him' stare. Gray thought, then nodded in Erza's direction, saying he too agreed. Happy just looked at them all, missing the silent communication.

"Thank you for your understanding. I appreciate you helping us look." Erza turned back and informed the mayor of their decision in her politest voice. The mayor smiled and nodded enthusiastically, twisting the end of this thin moustache.

"I'm glad." The mayor looked at his grand sliver watch. "If you leave now, you should catch the train that takes you straight to Magnolia." The group in front of him got up from their seats and started to leave the room.

"Thank you got your help." Lucy said politely; Gray and Happy muttered a small 'thanks' and bowed their heads. The mayor seemed joyful at their thank yous, and waved a pudgy hand.

"Hope you get some rest! You've done a great job!" He called as they walked out.

Lucy gave a small smile and closed the door after her, then immediately glared at her friends.

"We should stay." She said as they started to walk quite quickly so they could catch the train. Erza shook her head.

"No, we shouldn't have." She said and started to explain her reason. "I highly doubt that four of us could hope to find Natsu alone. I would have stayed and looked until the mayor mentioned that he would get his police to look." Happy nodded but Lucy still wasn't convinced. Gray noticed her look of disbelief and defended Erza, but not her reason.

"I know it seems unfair, Lucy, but if I were Natsu then I would have left by now." They looked up at him, intrigued at his reason.

"How come?" Happy asked curiously; Gray was silent for a few seconds, as if he was thinking of what he was about to say.

"Well, just think about it from his point of view." Gray walked quicker, noticing that it was nearing five to nine. He pushed open the double doors which he didn't realise were there and carried on. "A old, small man trips him up and then starts freaking out and knows your name. That is, if he can't remember Gramps." Gray finished.

"Well said." Erza said and Lucy looked finally convinced.

"Hey guys." Happy interrupted their thoughts abruptly, pulling them back to the crowded streets. "Do we need to catch the 10 past 9 train?"

Lucy nodded, confused, and looked up at the clock.

"We're gonna be late!" She yelled, and she was right; it was nine o clock exactly- ten minutes for them to get across town.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"We're gonna be late!" Rinn yelled from Natsu's back as they sprinted to the train station. Mika was the only one ahead of the dragon slayer (unless you counted Villian) and Rinn, Myron, Haru and Yuki we're behind him.

"Brighten up!" Natsu yelled.

"Shut the fuck up." Myron yelled at the same time.

"You shouldn't swear in public." Haru panted, "there might be children."

"Fuck children."

"Nice." Yuki piped in and stumbled slightly.

"I found it!" Mika yelled breathlessly and pointed to a building with trains outside it. Unlike the rest of the city they were in, the station was decorated in immense detail and looked expensive.

"Well now I know what all this shitty towns money was spent on." Myron stated.

"I think this place was built to try and persuade tourists." Rinn suggested. "That's probably why it doesn't have any windows."

"Zap, what's the plan?" Natsu asked, seeing as they had no money.

"If there was a open storage door…" Haru looked at the train they were about to board, which was now crawling slowly away from the platform. "There!" He pointed to a open container which was trailing at the back of the carriages. "Jump for it!" Smiling, Natsu obeyed and did a run up to the container, then jumped as hard as he could.

"Chiii hooooo!" Natsu yelled as he jumped- it was the first kind of call that came into his head; he landed successfully on his knees in the cheap storage carriage. Thuds and yells next to him told the dragon slayer that his friends had successfully done the same.

"Fiore, here we come." He heard Haru say breathlessly.

 **You like? Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu felt the train lurch into action and immediately felt very, very nauseous. He groaned and collapsed onto the wooden boards he was kneeling on. Myron started to laugh loudly whilst the others gave him confused looks.

"Someone's fucking travel sick!" He yelled in explanation and laughed harder; everyone else, apart from Natsu, laughed with him. Haru, still laughing softly, sat Natsu in a upright position against the wall so his face wasn't facing the floor. The train gathered speed, and Mika ran to shut the doors of the container they were in, as the wind began to grow harder and colder.

"Thanks." Rinn and Yuki said together, but Villain whined.

"Life's tough." Myron said to the dog and lay down.

"Have you always been this travel sick?" Haru asked Natsu, who had turned a light shade of green. He nodded.

"How do ya distract ya self?" Mika said loudly from the corner, ripping up some cardboard that she had found. Natsu shrugged.

"Let's play I spy!" Mika shuffled closer to the group and Rinn rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, like that's gonna work. We have loads to see in here." However, he shuffled forward too, and Myron sat up.

"Me first." Yuki cried out quickly. The others moaned.

"No fair!"

"Fuck you."

"I had a good one!"

"I don't care."

Natsu said nothing in fear of being sick but listened intently. Maybe, it could work as a distraction."

"I spy with my little-" Yuki started but was interrupted when a rolled up piece of card got thrown into her face by Mika. She glared at her jokingly whilst they giggled, then carried on in a louder voice.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…" she looked around, "'A'!"

"Animal?" Haru guessed.

"Nope." There was a thoughtful silence.

"Arachnid." Rinn said slowly.

"There's no stupid arachnid in here." Mika said confidently. Rinn nodded.

"Yes there is. On the roof." Everybody, including Natsu, looked up and saw a small spider hanging from the roof.

"That's not it." Yuki said and there was a groan.

"What else could it be?!" Haru asked. Yuki raised her eyebrow.

"You wanna know?" She asked. Haru shook his head but Myron and Rinn shouted "YES!" over him. Yuki grinned.

"The answer is…" she paused for effect- even Natsu had stopped feeling sick for a second to hear what was coming. "A bunch of idiots!"

Everybody cried out in outrage.

"That's stupid!"

"You broke the rules!" Haru said the loudest, "one word only."

Yuki grinned cheekily.

"You didn't say." She said and Natsu facepalmed.

"Those are the official rules of I spy, idiot!" He said but then immediately shut his mouth again. However, he was feeling slightly- very slightly- less sick.

"My turn next." Rinn said before Yuki could argue. "I spy, blah blah blah…something beginning with 'B'."

"Bitches." Myron said immediately, pointing to Mika and Yuki. Haru and Natsu laughed and Rinn snorted.

"Bitch and proud." Mika said whilst Yuki punched Myron's shoulder; Myron yelled and crawled away, cursing.

"Don't call Carrot top a bitch." Rinn said, smiling at the scene that unfolded.

"Yeah," Natsu said, grinning, "she can't face the truth."

Yuki cried out angrily and Haru, Myron, Mika and Rinn laughed. Yuki went to hit Natsu but the dragon slayer raised his hands in surrender.

"You wouldn't hit a sick guy!" He said and Yuki slowly lowered her fist, rolling her eyes.

"That's the worst excuse ever." She said and turned to Rinn. "What's your stupid word?" Rinn tapped his nose.

"Guess."

"Brown." Haru guessed and Rinn shook his head.

"Box." Natsu said half heartedly- he was still feeling sick and thought that his guess was stupid. Surprisingly, Rinn gave a thumbs up.

"¡Eres correcta!" He said and Mika gave a confused face.

"What does that mean?" She asked and Rinn rolled his eyes.

"You are correct." He answered and pointed at Natsu. "And by you I mean him."

Natsu gave a small whoop; unfortunately, this caused Villain, who was lying on the floor bored at this point, to stand up and bark excitedly. And loudly. Myron pounced in Villain and tried to shut his mouth but, thinking it was a new game, wiggled out of his grasp and howled.

"Now we're done for." Rinn said miserably when Villain was finally quiet.

"They might've not heard." Mika said hopefully but Natsu shook his head.

"I bet the whole train heard it. It was pretty loud." He said and covered his mouth again.

"How do ya know?" Mika challenged but Haru shushed her.

"If they haven't heard that, then we ought to be quieter." He suggested and they nodded.

"It came from over here!" A voice yelled suddenly, making Haru jump.

"I bet they snuck on the train!" Another voice cried out and there was a big banging sound on the container's smaller door.

"We know you're in there!" The voice yelled angrily, "where are the keys?!"

"Here."

Rinn moaned loudly.

"Told you we're done for." He said and turned to Haru. "Any big ideas, Zap?"

Haru shook his head sadly.

"Only one I have is suicide." He listened to the numerous bangs, "there must be about eight or nine guards there."

"Fuck." Myron said in the silence.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"I still can't believe we made it and got first class seats." Lucy said after the mages had been sitting on the train for half an hour; upon arrival, Erza, Lucy Gray and Happy were shocked to find a train guard wanting to escort them to their first class seats, on behalf of the mayor.

"I guess the mayor was serious when he said that he was grateful." Gray said and lay back in his red velvet seat. It seemed like nothing could disturb them- even Erza was relaxing.

Suddenly, shouting and cursing came from behind them, becoming louder and louder. There was also the sounds of the train's guards orders:

"Are the mages down here?!" One yelled as he burst through the door.

"What's going on?!" Lucy cried out as the doors were forcefully shut again by a single guard. The shouts came from the other side, and now some barking.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the guard in the carriage said, scuttling over to them, "but there has been a few…teens trying to get a free ride on our train. We found them of corse, but they simply won't cooperate." More shouting and cursing. The guard took a deep breath and ignored it. "Do you mind if we tied them to the poles in here, and you keep a eye on them. I hope that the youths might decide to cooperate more if they are guarded by powerful mages such as yourselves."

The shouts and curses were getting ruder and louder.

"We'll be glad to." Erza said not very truthfully and turned her head towards the direction of the door. "Bring them in." Erza ignored Gray's glare.

The guard, however, looked relieved and went to open the door again.

"Fuckety fuck nuggets." One of the teens said and tried to kick the guard. He had green, spiky hair and was wearing a red hoodie with jeans and trainers. The guard dodged the attack and stepped out of the way so the other guards could bring the rebellious group in.

"Damn it." The green haired teen said, looking at Erza, Happy, Lucy and Gray. Roughly a guard pushed him foreword.

"Mages?! Are you kiddin'?!" Cried out a girl, who had stopped kicking momentarily to get a good look. She had dirty blonde hair in a ponytail and was wearing a denim jacket full of holes. She started to struggle again as she was getting dragged through the isle and (eventually) tied on a post next to Gray. The girl looked up at him.

"Are ya always naked? Cause that's a bad habit." She asked and Gray looked down to find he had stripped to his boxers. Again. Gray ignored her and turned away.

"It's not my fault!" Another boy with brown hair and glasses cried out from the back. "My father forced me to board this train…"

"Or he'll kill him…" a girl with ginger hair cried behind him as they got dragged to two more poles.

"I DON'T EVEN HAVE A HOUSE!" The blonde girl cried out dramatically, waving her legs in the air.

"I never knew my father!" The green haired teen yelled and pretended to die, presumably, as he flopped against the pillar he was tied to.

"You have a father?" A raven haired boy said as he was getting dragged by a guard; he was sitting crossed legged to be difficult. "I was a lab experiment."

"You has that kind of money?" The ginger girl said, stifling her laughter, "my family was so poor that every night we had to eat one family member." They all burst into laughter and Erza looked away from the door; she was getting a sore neck.

"There's one more here, but I think he's travel sick…dead to the world…" a guard said, ignoring the other teens and began to drag one more person down the isle. Suddenly, the guard yelled from behind them.

"The punk bit me!" He yelled angrily and all the teens burst into loud laughter.

"Nice one, Creeper." The green haired teen yelled, trying to crane his neck. Lucy, who was nearest the him, gave him a questioning look.

"His parents were very cruel." The teen said in explanation.

"Come here, you punk!" The guard yelled and began to tie the teen to the front pole. First, Erza only glanced at the last teen; he was just another trouble maker. Then, she looked closer, not daring to believe it. But she was right. And a quick glance at the other mages' faces told her she was not hallucinating.

Natsu Dragneel was glaring at her, very much alive. He noticed her staring and _stuck his tongue out at_ _her_.

"Apologise to me now, boy!" The guard who had got bitten ordered and held up his bat threateningly. Natsu cocked his head, pondered, then spat in his face. The guard flinched and stormed away.

"Oohhhhhhhhhhhh!" The other teens cried out but Erza wasn't paying attention.

"Why?...why can't you…" she muttered but remembered what Mokarov said about Natsu's memory.

" _He didn't recognise me at all…"_ he had said, hadn't he? Erza looked at Natsu closer, and saw that the dragon slayer had looked different then when she last saw him.

Natsu's hair was longer, understandably, and he was no longer wearing his trade mark clothes- he had a white top on under a worn, leather jacket and he had black trousers on. But the thing that Erza noticed most wasn't his clothing, or his hair- it was the fact that there was a deep, red cut running down the side of his face all the way to his jaw line.

"Where's my doggie?" The green haired teen asked loudly and in answer, a guard dropped a huge, black, unconscious dog at his feet. Natsu turned and gasped silently.

"Villain?" The green haired teen whispered and, unknown to anyone but him and Natsu, the dog opened its eye, wagged its tail once and shut his eye again.

"Play dead…" Myron muttered, smiling softly. He caught Natsu's eye, and winked. Natsu grinned back, but then hid his smile.


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu groaned loudly and shrunk down as far as he could go with his hands tied behind his back.

"Not now, Creeper!" Myron moaned and tried to strike Natsu with his foot; unfortunately, he was too far away and ended up kicking Lucy and jostling Villain.

"Hey!" Lucy said, snapping out of her thoughts. Myron grinned.

"Nice feet." He said, wriggling his eyebrows and waggling his tongue. Mika giggled as Lucy shuffled away from him, disgusted.

"Sorry Joker's such a perv." Yuki said from behind her with a fake smile. Lucy was too mad to answer.

"Are you going to ignore me?" Yuki caught Rinn's eye, and he took that as a queue to join in.

"That's mean. I mean, I thought I was bad." Yuki smiled cheekily and carried on to draw attention to themselves. Meanwhile, Haru, Mika and Myron were making secret signals to each other.

'When? Now?' Mika was saying with her eyes. Haru shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes up towards Erza, who was the only mage who wasn't distracted.

'Fuck her!' Myron said with his glare, and looked sharply at Villain, who was getting restless.

"I bet she doesn't even have a boyfriend." Yuki muttered audibly to Rinn and Haru gave them a 'now' look.

Then, chaos broke out in the first class carriage.

Yuki suddenly kicked Lucy in the shin and Gray leapt up automatically in defence. Lucy stood up too, clutching her shin.

Rinn, during those few vital seconds, managed to undo the last knot on his ropes (he had been untying them secretly) and proceeded to yank the ropes off Mika, who was aiming kicks at Happy. Once this was done, Mika and Rinn moved on to untie their friends. Gray tied to aim a ice lance at Rinn, but suddenly a giant black dog pinned him on the floor.

"Rip him up, Villain!" Myron cried, shrugging free from his ropes. Erza leapt up and drew a sword out but Haru, sensing what was going to happen, yanked her ankle and she went crashing onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience." Haru said to her, breathless, and started to untie Natsu as quick as possible.

"Open the emergency door!" He yelled and Mika yanked the doors open. Whilst she was distracted, Lucy grabbed her and started to pull her away.

"Call yourself a mage?" Mika said, struggling, and bit Lucy. Hard. Lucy let go out of instinct and Rinn jumped on her. Lucy yelled out in surprise as Rinn ties her to a chair.

"Sit tight." Rinn said and ran to catch Happy, who was trying to wrestle Natsu out of Haru's hands.

"Myron! Grab his legs!" The brunette cried as Rinn grabbed Erza's dropped sword and was trying to slice Happy with it; this was forcing Happy to move away and let go of Natsu.

The blue exceed looked around desperately for help but found none; Gray was still wrestling with the giant dog, Lucy was tied up and Erza has been knocked unconscious.

"Help untie me!" Lucy yelled but Rinn came back, waving the sword at Happy again.

"Yaaasss Reaper!" Myron yelled as he slipped through the chaos and grabbed Natsu's legs.

"Over…here…" Haru said, already breathless, and walked over to the open emergency door.

"Guys- you might wanna hurry." Yuki warned, who was listening against the door, "those guards are coming!"

"Now!" Haru yelled just as the guards burst in, yelling threats; Myron and the brunette threw Natsu out of the door, then they jumped out themselves. Yuki ducked under a guard's outstretched arm and leapt after with Mika at her side. Finally, dropping the sword, Rinn nudged Villain and the dog leapt off Gray and ran, then jumped, out of the train. Rinn followed, saying:

"Sorry about the inconvenience!"

-#!-#!-#!-#!

The friends lay on the ground, bruised, and watched the train power past them. Then, quite unexpectedly, Mika started to giggle, causing a wave- no, tsunami- of laughter.

"You should've seen the strippers' face!" Myron howled with tears leaking out of his eyes, "he thought that Villain was…was…" he broke off, unable to speak anymore because of his laughter.

"You just yanked that girl down!" Mika shrieked, pointing at Haru. They laughed harder.

"I wish I was paying more attention…" Natsu said and sat up slowly, giggling weakly.

"Where are we, anyway?" Yuki asked curiously, looking around. They were lying in a green field; in the distance they could see a vast collection of trees. Haru pulled out his map; Villain tried to grab it, but Haru rolled away.

"Errr…" He unfolded the piece of paper and pushed his glasses up, "I dunno…just on the outskirts of Magnolia, I think."

"Well, betta get goin'!" Mika said and stood up. Myron moaned and invited Villain to sit on his lap.

"Now?!" He cried out; Natsu groaned and flopped onto his back.

"I don't know if you noticed, but we just escaped mages them jumped off a train." Rinn said and joined Natsu on the floor. Mika growled and kicked Natsu; the dragon slayer cried out painfully and rolled on his side, clutching his stomach.

"He said it!" Natsu cried out angrily, "kick him!" He pointed at Rinn, who was smiling in amusement.

"Ya were closer." Mika answered whilst Natsu got slowly to his feet.

"I guess we better go…before Blue Jay kicks us to the pulp." The dragon slayer nudged Rinn with his foot whilst Myron dragged himself off the ground.

"I thought you were on my side, traitor." Rinn moaned but got up nevertheless. Haru clapped his hands, suddenly business-like.

"Right! Let's get going then!" He said and pushed the map into his pocket. "Magnolia should be through those woods!" He pointed to the mass of trees in the distance.

"Yay." Rinn said sarcastically.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Erza became conscious again just as the last of the group jumped off the train; she looked around, confused why she was on the floor. Close by her, Gray was sticking his head out of the emergency door, ready to jump.

"Gray!" Erza shouted and got up. Gray looked at her.

"We've got to go after him." He said, "he jumped off the train with all those other people.

"Jumped?" Erza stood up and looked out of the train door. Gray nodded.

"We're close to Magnolia station." Lucy said from behind them, unhooking the last of the rope off her arms. "So we shouldn't go jumping off trains when their location is so close anyway." Gray still looked ready to jump so Erza pulled him away gently.

"Lucy's right." She said and Gray's shoulders dropped in defeat.

"I know."

"What happened here anyway?" Erza asked as she looked around at the wrecked carriage; there were sword slice marks on the walls and pillars; two guards had managed to knock themselves unconscious and pieces of torn rope was everywhere.

"Those teens that got brought in here caused chaos." Gray explained, "and then they jumped out." He gestures to the door.

"They tried to slice me!" Happy cried out.

"They sent their giant dog at me…it only wanted to lick my face off though."

"They tied me up hard and my keys dropped out my pocket."

"And to think that we were so close…" Erza muttered, turning away from them. "He was right in front of me…but didn't recognise me." Erza turned around again sharply, her face now full of determination.

"We will start searching as soon as we get off this train!" She ordered and Happy gave a 'Aye' in response.

"I bet he went to Magnolia!" Lucy said. Gray nodded.

"I think he and those people were planning to ride this train there." He said and they all nodded. Suddenly, the train started to slow down until, finally, it came to a stop.

"This is our stop."

 **You like?**


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own fairy tail.**

 **Enjoy!**

"My legs are tired!" Mika announced into the forest they were walking through as loudly as she could. She and her friends had been walking for a seemingly long time through the woods but didn't seem to be getting anywhere; Rinn was convinced they were going around in circles.

"Shut up, Blue Jay!" Myron yelled louder before reminding her, "it was your stupid idea!"

"True." Natsu added.

"But they hurrrt!" Mika moaned and kicked the dirt. Haru pulled out the map.

"Not much longer…I think." He said and folded it back up; Rinn rolled his eyes and threw a tiny stick at Villain, who didn't notice.

"We're lost." He said as Yuki said "Shit" because she had stepped in a muddy patch.

"No we are not!" Haru replied and shoved the map into his pocket. Natsu grinned and slug his bag over his shoulder lazily. Mika skipped in front, forgetting about her hurt leg, dragging her bag behind her. The friends wove through more trees and were chatting happily until Mika gave out a small shriek and pointed though the trees.

"Look at that li'l house!" She cried and ran foreword.

"Wait up!" Natsu cried and followed her along with the rest of the group. He was beginning to see the house now; it was quite shabby looking and was a little out of place in the forest area- the dragon slayer felt like something was oddly familiar about it, but couldn't think why.

Natsu skidded to a halt and Myron successfully tripped over him, sending them both crashing to the floor.

"Well done." Rinn said from behind them, clapping sarcastically. Natsu and Myron grinned sheepishly and rose to their feet.

"It looks pretty abandoned…" Yuki noted- it was true. The windows were dusty and curtains were drawn inside them; it whole house had a abandoned vibe to it.

"Hey! Do you think that we could play Little Pigs?" Mika asked suddenly and turned to Haru. Myron, Yuki and Rinn smiled and agreed whilst Natsu stood there, confused.

"Only…" Haru started to walk closer to the house, "Only if there is DEFINITELY no one living here." He looked inside one of the dusty windows then proceeded to look through the others.

"I'll check the back!" Mika yelled and ran to the back end of the house.

"What exactly is Little Pigs?" Natsu asked sheepishly and Yuki face palmed.

"Sorry. I forgot to tell you." She apologised. "Little Pigs is basically where there are two teams: Pigs and wolves. The Pigs go inside the house and they have to defend themselves from the wolves, who's aim is to try and get in the house." She explained.

"If you manage to get into the house when you are a wolf," Rinn carried on as Mika came spiriting back towards them with Villain at her heels, "then you need to try and drive the other pigs out and let the other wolves in. The game only ends when one team surrenders."

"The only problem," Mika added as Myron started to wrestle with his dog, "is that the house gets pretty wrecked- ya see, ya are allowed to use anythin' at all tha' could defend yaself…an' it gets outa hand."

"HOUSE IS EMPTY!" Haru yelled suddenly, grinning. "Do you know the rules, Creeper?"

"Yeah."

Haru clapped his hands.

"Right! Who's our Pigs?" He asked.

"MEEEEEE!" Mika cried and raised her hand. Haru nodded and Mika gave a happy yell.

"I'll go too." Yuki said and started to make her way to the house, "to get some girl power."

"And I bag-seed being the last pig, if you don't mind." Haru said and walked to the house as well, and opening the door easily- it wasn't locked, for some reason. "Give us 2 minutes!" He yelled after him.

"No fucking way!" Myron yelled, who was escorting Villain to the safety of the trees.

"20 seconds!" Rinn yelled and Haru nodded. Mika, him and Yuki ran inside and slammed the door after them. Natsu grinned, and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm all fired up!" He cried happily and got in a battle stance.

"Same." Myron said and clicked neck. Rinn grinned and yelled:

"Are you ready?!"

"You bet, mother fuckers!" A yell came from inside the house.

"Charrrrrrrge!" Myron yelled and they all started to spirit to the house.

"I'll try the door!" Rinn yelled to his teammates and charged into it yelling, "let me in, piggie!"

"I'll go round back." Myron said and ran to the direction of the back of the house, yelling curses. Natsu whooped in joy and started to try and prise open the front window.

"Little pig, little pig let me come in!" The dragon slayer shouted. Haru appeared at the other side of the window and tried to wrestle it closed.

"Not on The hairs of my chinny-chin-chin!" He yelled back. Suddenly, a cry came from the doorway and Rinn came sprinting away from the door, soaking wet.

"She- she soaked me!" He yelled, pointing to the door. Yuki was standing there with a big bucket in her hands.

"Get off my laaawwwwn!" She screed and slammed the door.

"Take over for me!" Natsu ordered to Rinn and ran to the doorway. He started to slam his hand on the door.

"Let me in, pig!" Natsu yelled.

"What are you doing?" Rinn asked in disbelief as he tried to pull open the window. Natsu didn't answer but carried on yelling.

All of a sudden, the door swung open and Yuki was holding a bucket above her head.

"Get off my- what?!"

Natsu had charged into her, pushing her aside, then sprinted past, on his way to where Haru seemed to be.

The mad charge that Natsu had done had caused Yuki to fall onto the floor, the bucket landing on her soon after.

"I'm gone…shit." She muttered and stayed lying down after pushing the door closed with her hand violently.

Natsu grinned and ran into the kitchen where Haru was, who was slamming the window down.

"Hey, little pig!" The dragon slayer cried happily and Haru turned around, shocked.

"What the?!" Haru yelled and quickly grabbed a dusty spoon that was lying next to him.

"Fight me!" He yelled and threw the spoon at Natsu. It landed right in between his eyes.

"Argh!" He yelled and span away from the window. Rinn saw his chance and jumped inside, just as Natsu was starting to drag Haru in the direction of the window.

"Nice move." Rinn commented and Natsu grinned as Haru struggled pointlessly in his grip.

"I really do like wolves. Really!" He said as he got dragged to the window. "I don't wanna diiiieee!" They all laughed and Rinn opened the window wide- Haru wasn't even fighting anymore.

"Can't we just talk this out?" He said, smiling.

"Get out!" Natsu bellowed and pushed him out the window.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" Haru yelled from the ground as Rinn shit the window with a snap.

"Sorry." Rinn said, grinning, and picked up the fork that Natsu had thrown before.

"I'll guard." He said just as Haru smacked his face against the window, making it seem squashed from their pint of view.

"Let me in." The brunette begged.

"Nope."

"Good idea. I'll help Myron." Natsu replied and ran out of the room.

"I'm back!"

Natsu span round a second too late and only saw a mass of red hair before being rugby tackled to the floor.

"Argh!" He yelled as he made contact with the hard floor; Yuki started to beat him with some kind of stick on the back playfully.

"Stop!" Natsu said in between laughs. Yuki laughed back and dropped the weapon, and proceeding to drag him out the door.

"Noooooo…"

"Yessssssss!"

"Mercy!"

Yuki practically threw the dragon slayer out of the door and slammed it after her, holding a long stick in one hand defensively.

"Creeper! My dude!" A cry was heard on the other side of the door. Yuki was about to walk away when lots of large bangs were heard from the other side of the door.

"You're not comin' in!" The girl yelled aggressively and whacked the door back with her stick.

There was silence, then:

"CHARGE!"

The door was suddenly pushed off its hinges, and Natsu and Myron came running through; Yuki yelled and jumped out of the way of her charging friends.

Myron and Natsu landed in a tangled heap on the floor, laughing weakly.

"It worked!" Myron wheezed.

"Poor door." Natsu said, looking back at the remains of it.

Meanwhile, Rinn was running through the hallway with a angry Mika and Haru at his heals; Mika was even throwing random foods she had found in the fridge.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled but they weren't listening.

"Get back, beast!" Natsu yelled from a doorway and ran at Haru; Myron ran at Mika. Yuki was running after them, yelling curses.

"What the?!" Haru cried out in surprise.

"Oi!" Mika yelled at the same time. Yuki pounced on Rinn, and soon it was Wolves v Pigs: to the death.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Happy- are you coming?" Gray asked the blue exceed, who was hovering in the air, zoned out- the cat had been doing that a lot ever since…

Gray pushed the thought of Natsu away and concentrated on thinking of any places they hadn't checked in Magnolia.

"Oh…yeah." Happy replied and flew at Gray's walking speed; Gray didn't notice, too lost in thought. He had no clue where else to look.

Erza and Lucy had split up from him and Happy to search one end of Magnolia, and Gray was searching in the other direction. Seeing as Erza or Lucy had not came to find him with any news, he presumed they were still looking.

Where was that stupid Flame-brain?

Gray's feet were aching from walking around the streets of Magnolia for so long and his legs were probably shaking from all the running he had mistakenly done at the start of the search. Still, he had not even seen any glimpse of pink hair for all that time, and Natsu had to be in Magnolia. Unless…unless he went in the wrong direction with those loud mouthed teens that were with him…

"Happy! Is there anywhere else we haven't checked?!" Gray said suddenly, pushing the thought away. Happy stopped in midair to think, and Gray waited.

"I…I don't think so…" Happy replied, still thinking. Gray sighed and started to walk again but was stopped by a cry from the exceed.

"Wait! There is one place…"

"Where?!" Gray demanded but Happy shook his head sadly.

"Why he would go there when he can't remember…" he muttered.

"Where?" Gray asked probably a little too aggressively- he just wanted to know if he could find Natsu. "Every place is a possibility." He said more politely.

"Our house." Happy whispered. There was silence for a while.

"You haven't gone there for a while, have you?" Gray asked and Happy shook his head.

"No…I have been staying at Lucy's…" he replied.

Happy had chose to not stay at their house because it felt so empty without Natsu. Happy could look after himself fine, and he did for the first few weeks of Natsu's absence. But then, after the fourth week, panic had settled in and Happy had told the guild.

Ever since then, Happy had asked to stay at Lucy's for the past 9 months, two weeks and four days.

"We'll check there." Gray decided and started to walk in the familiar direction of the dragon slayer's house. Happy followed above him, wiping some tears as he did so.

 **Ta da!**

 **READ PLEASE:**

 **A while ago, someone asked about whether there would be any ships in this story.**

 **Well, here's my answer!**

 **I'm either going to:**

 **A) Keep Natsu single!**

 **Or**

 **B) GRATSU! (For those who don't know, that is Gray x Natsu)**

 **THESE WILL BE THE ONLY TWO OPTIONS, SO DON'T SUGGEST ANYMORE!**

 **So, either put A or B in your review and I will tell you what it is next chapter!**

 **Bub-bye!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own fairy tail.**

 **Enjoy!**

Gray expected Natsu's house to be quiet; after all, there was no one living there any longer.

What he didn't expect was a mixture of screams, shouting and extremely loud curses.

"What the?" Gray muttered and looked at Happy. Happy shrugged and they moved forward, more slowly, and tried to see what was going on through the bushes.

There was a alarming smash from the left (Natsu's house) and two girls ran past; one was carrying a large stick and another was holding a tiny spoon- the girl with the spoon Gray recognised form the train- she was sitting next to him. She had a long ponytail and a dirty denim jacket on.

"Fight me!" She screamed and waved the spoon in What Gray guessed was a threatening way. The ice mage looked away from the scene, lost in thought.

If those two were with Natsu on the train…that meant that Natsu couldn't be far, right?

"Argh right! I'm all fired up!"

Gray snapped his head back so quickly that it caused whiplash, but he didn't care. All he could think of was Natsu. The ice mage glances at Happy, and knew it wasn't his imagination.

Natsu, Natsu, Natsu, Natsu…

The exceed and the ice mage stared at the spot in front of them, waiting…

"It's on!" A stranger's voice cried and two other teens came running into their view; one of them had brown hair with glasses- he was carrying a large stick in his hand. The other?

The other was Natsu.

He was grinning, just like he used to, and was waving a stick in the air like a sword.

"Fight me!" The dragon slayer yelled and the two teens charged together, laughing and yelling joyfully.

"It's really him." Gray muttered- a little too loud. Natsu had a amazing sense of hearing after all.

Natsu immediately froze, much to his companion's confusion. Gray cursed mentally and looked at Happy- to find he wasn't there. Where was he? Gray did a silent search and was shocked to find the blue cat hovering above the bushes, staring at Natsu.

"What's that?!" Another boy came into view- he had black hair and looked quite sulky. Natsu shook his head.

"I dunno…"

Gray realised that it wasn't him Natsu heard at all…it was Happy. Gray knew the game was up, and stood up from his low crouch. A green haired boy swore.

"Where did they come from?!" The loud mouthed girl cried and stepped back.

"Natsu…" Happy murmured very quietly, so that almost no one heard him.

"Who. Are. You?!" The ginger haired asked, dropping her stick. Gray didn't answer, but stared at Natsu. Natsu stared back, but not with recognition- just confusion.

"Are ya a hobo?" The blonde girl asked in the silence. Happy suddenly flew towards Natsu and hugged him around the waist.

"Natsu!" The exceed cried, burying his head in his shirt. Natsu froze for a second, and Gray instantly knew something was wrong. The dragon slayer's breaths were coming more quickly and his eyes were round. Frightened. But why? Natsu never had shown this behaviour before…

Natsu was frozen for a few seconds longer, but then, unexpectedly, he ripped Happy away from him and tossed the cat to the floor, then stepped a few steps backwards.

"Hey!" Gray yelled and jumped out of the bush to help Happy, who was picking himself up from the ground. Gray could see the exceeds eyes were full of tears, and felt pity for him.

"Why are you 'hey'-ing us?" The brunette asked rudely, "we should be hey-ing you for spying on us!"

"PERVERT!" The green haired teen yelled dramatically, pointing at Gray. The group all started laughing, and a big black dog came bounding up to them, wagging its tail.

"I'm not a pervert!" Gray yelled impatiently, "it just happens that you are vandalising a friends property!"

"Ooohhh!" The blonde girl said and they fell about laughing again; Gray wanted more than anything to freeze their mouths shut, but knew that would probably be breaking some guild rules. And it would not be a good impression on Natsu, if he had amnesia.

"That house is abandoned!" The ginger haired cried. Unknown to them though, Gray had just set off a small alarm in his hand.

The 'alarm' was just a thing that, when activated, tell Erza and Lucy where he was- it was so that if one of them found Natsu, then the others would know as soon as possible and make their way to that location.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"I don't believe it…he's found Natsu!" Lucy cried suddenly, looking at the blinking light on her wrist. "At…at Natsu's house…" Erza looked at her wrist and found that her alarm was lighting up too.

"Natsu…" she muttered before ordering, "there's no time to loose! Let's go!" Lucy nodded and they ran in the familiar direction to Natsu's house.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"We could call the police!" Yuki yelled and threw a stick in the direction of the ice mage. Natsu watched, amused, but still cautious. He was caught completely off guard when that weird blue flying cat hugged him, muttering his name. How did it know his name?

Natsu didn't like getting touched, and when this cat touched him he panicked; something at the corner of his memory stirred unpleasantly whenever someone tried to touch him, it seemed, for reasons unknown to Natsu. A bit like the whole 'muteness to strangers' thing.

The stupid mage was still staring at him. Natsu looked away from his gaze, uncomfortable, and stroked Villain instead, scratching him around the ears.

"Chase that cat away, will you?" Natsu muttered to the dog. Villain barked, and suddenly started to charge towards the blue cat. The cat yelled and hid behind the mage; the black dog didn't stop though. He charged into the mage, barking loudly. Natsu and the others started to laugh hysterically- Mika had sunk to the ground in a fit of giggles.

"Wait a go, you fucking mage!" Myron yelled as the mage tried to get up, but was pinned down again by Villain; the dog didn't realise this though- he was just trying to get to the cat, who was flying just out of reach.

"Nice one, Creeper." Yuki said, watching the scene amusedly.

"No problem." The dragon slayer answered. "He was really starting to piss me off…" The ice mage tried to get up again, but was unsuccessful- Villain was now starting to lick his face, thinking he was a friend.

"I'm sensing major déjà vu here. Wasn't this guy the one on the train?" Haru asked, trying to make out a face under the black fur.

"OH YEAH! He was!" Mika yelled, "the stripper!"

"Oh my…a pervert and a stripper…wow…" Rinn said, picking at his nails. They laughed again. The mage was now pushing Villain off him slowly, and the blue cat was trying to help by lifting the dog off the ground. Again, this process was very slow.

"Gonna need more effort than that, you lazy fuck!" Myron yelled. Haru tutted.

"Language." He said.

"Fuck you." Myron shot back.

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" a ordering female voice suddenly yelled from behind them. Usually, people would obey. Not this lot.

"Geez lady…we weren't moving in the first place…" Rinn said and turned around; the teen pulled a face at whatever he was seeing. "And who are you meant to be? My royal knight? Well, it's about fucking time…" Natsu snorted and looked around to see who was at the receiving end of Rinn's wrath, grinning.

Their were actually two people there: one of them had long, scarlet hair and was wearing a metallic suit of amour; in her hand was a long, silver sword and Natsu could see why Rinn had called her a knight- she certainly was as bossy as one, and that glare she was giving could kill a town- no, city.

The other girl next to her had blonde, shortish hair and was wearing some kind of blue matching outfit. On her belt was a small, leather wallet-looking thing which seemed to be bulging with something, but Natsu couldn't figure out what. Surely girls didn't carry around that much money….

The blonde girl was staring back at him with a clear expression of shock on her face. Natsu looked around and saw that the knight girl was also staring at him. Weird.

"Who the fuck are you?" Myron blurted out. Haru rolled his eyes but didn't tell Myron off for his language.

"Are you from a circus?!" Mika asked typically, squinting at the knight girl. The knight girl shot a glare at her and looked over her shoulder; she saw the ice mage buried under a enormous dog and gasped.

"Gray!" The blonde girl yelled and ran over to him.

"We better go…" Haru muttered and they all nodded.

"I don't like the way the knight girl is staring at me." Natsu muttered and shot a quick glance at her from under his fringe, which was now almost covering his eye. It had been a long time since it had been cut.

Yep, she was staring at him. Creepy.

"I see what you mean." Yuki muttered, following his gaze.

"When I say?" Haru muttered back and they nodded simultaneously. Villain came running back to the group, and they knew that the stripper had been freed.

"Thanks, Lucy." The ice mage thanked and Mika couldn't resist mocking him.

"I owe you my life, Lucy!" She yelled.

"I owe you a fuck, Lucy!" Myron said and they all laughed again.

"Three…" Haru muttered quietly as Lucy snarled at them.

"Two…" Natsu and his friends got ready to sprint into the crowd of trees in front of them.

"One…" The knight girl was starting to walk over to them with her sword raised threateningly.

"Now."

The group suddenly started to sprint towards the trees with Villain leading.

"STOP!" a voice yelled but they kept running as if they were running for their lives. Which they probably were, seeing as one of those mages had a giant sword in her hand.

They were almost there…

"What the fuck?!" Myron yelled from behind them. Natsu suddenly felt his feet stick to the ground; the dragon mage looked down and saw them covered in ice up to the knees.

"What the fuck?!" Natsu echoed and tried to claw the ice off him.

"What the hell?!"

"Fudge nuggets!"

"Fuuuuuuuuuck…"

"This must be illegal."

Natsu was still trying to scrape off the ice when metal boots stopped in front of him.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Unknown to anyone there, a secret pair of eyes was watching the dragon slayer intently from underneath the bushes.

The figure smiled and pulled out a small walkie-talkie from his pocket and spoke into it quietly.

"Hey boss…I found your dragon slayer." He muttered and a voice replied:

" _Perfect…keep an eye on him, I don't want him escaping me again."_

"On it. He seems to be heading to the fairytail guild in Magnolia…looks like some of those fairies were looking for him too."

" _Follow them. I will be there shortly. Don't let him get away!"_

"I won't. Over."


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't own fairy tail…**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu stared up at the ice mage in annoyance and loathing, refusing to retreat his gaze. The ice mage stared back, equally as stubborn, but his face held a different expression altogether; more of uncertainty and pity. This made Natsu angrier and resumed trying to scrape the ice off his legs.

"It won't come off." The ice mage said unhelpfully, and the dragon slayer rolled his eyes and carried on.

"Please don't kill me scary lady…" Mika pleaded from behind him, assumably to the knight girl- she was pretty scary, come to think of it…unnaturally so…

Natsu stopped scraping the ice for a few seconds and looked at his hands; they were covered in small, deep scratches which stung every time he moved any of his fingers and would bleed whenever this happened. The dragon slayer looked down at the ice imprisoning him and was shocked to find that none of it had broken off. Wait…

A minuscule ice chip crumbled off the side of the block, and melted on impact with the ground.

Well, almost none had came off.

"I told you so." The ice mage said unhelpfully and Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Should we take them to the guild?" A female voice said from behind him and there was a loud curse from Myron.

"Yes. Maybe…it will help him…" Another, more authoritative voice replied strongly. Natsu immediately grew curious at the mysterious 'he'. Was it some old sick man that had a kink for young guys/girls?

Well, you never know.

Natsu smiled at his thought and made a mental note to tell Rinn his idea- he would turn it into a dramatic horror story with defenceless, unknowing teens…

By defenceless teens he was referring to the mages.

"Get up." The ice mage ordered from above him; Natsu, being as stubborn as he was, ignored him and proceeded to sit on the (slightly frozen) grass.

"Yes, my dude!" Myron cried, laughing at his friend's action. He was about to say something else but was cut short because the blue cat started to lift him off the ground a couple of inches.

"Hey, what the?!" The green haired teen yelled and tried to struggle but it was no use- he just looked like a fish at the end of a fishing line.

"Get off me, bitch." Yuki growled from his side as Lucy tried to help her up as the ice fell from her legs. She got up by herself, and stood facing away from the guild member with her arms crossed.

"Get up, Flame-brain!" He cried out and Natsu felt like the nickname was familiar somehow. But why?

Still, he refused to get up and crossed his arms like Yuki would. The ice mage sighed and growled at the same time in frustration.

"Fine! I'll have to get you up then…" Before Natsu registered what the mage just said, he was hoisted up upwards by the arms.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

 _THWACK_.

Gray stumbled backwards and felt a sharp pain on his jawbone. He looked over at Natsu, shocked for the sudden, uncharacteristic behaviour that just occurred.

The dragon slayer was breathing quickly and was staring sat Gray with wide eyes; his fist was still raised from when he punched him and Gray couldn't understand why he looked so panicked.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked him from somewhere to his right. Gray nodded and gingerly rose a hand to his jaw which he could already feel bruising. It was a pretty hard punch.

"I'm fine…" he muttered and walked back over to Natsu, who had now calmed down slightly.

"I can see a bruise!" The blonde girl cried out happily as he turned his head.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning." The raven haired teen added unhelpfully.

"Why did you do that?" Gray demanded, slightly hurt- yes, Natsu had amnesia, but still that wasn't just forgetting things…

Natsu gave a unreadable expression and then folded his arms mutely.

"Fine. I'll lead you instead." Gray said and stood behind the dragon slayer. "Move." Gray knew it sounded rude, but he was acting angry to hide his hurt when Natsu punched him; it was so uncharacteristic of him, Gray wondered if there was something that happened to cause such odd behaviour. It had been nine months since Gray had last seen him…what could've happened in those nine months? Had Natsu just hing around with his new friends, or was his memory hiding something else? Gray recalled he got punched as soon as he tried to pick Natsu up; maybe, just maybe…something had happened…but what?

"Let's go, Gray." Erza said as she pushed two teens in front of her. "I'll walk at the back and you two walk at the front, to make sure they don't run."

Gray and Lucy nodded and took up their assigned positions.

"I feel like a celebrity." The blonde girl said as they began to walk towards the guild.

"I feel like a criminal." The raven-haired said bluntly.

"Same." The ginger girl said back to him.

"Where are we going, anyway? What's your guild's name?" The green haired teen asked them from the air.

"We are going to our guild, Fairy tail." Erza replied.

"Fairy tail?!" One of the teens cried out, "what kind of name is that?!" And they all laughed, much to Erza's annoyance.

"Guilds have lots of strange names." A boy in glasses said after the laughter had died down. "I know there's one called Sabertooth…there's one called Mermaid heel (I think)…"

"Mermaid heel!"

"Sabertooth!"

They burst out laughing again. Erza growled.

"QUIET!" She yelled and the teens were all shocked into silence.

"Sorry, ma'am!" The green haired boy said from above.

"Why are we even getting taken to your guild anyway?" One of them asked after a while, when Erza had cooled down. They were getting close to Fairy tail now; they were entering the bustled streets of Magnolia.

"I don't think you realise this, but were vandalising a house." Lucy said to them.

"So why are you taking ya to a guild? Surely a police station would make sense." The boy with the black rimmed glasses asked.

"Are you going to murder us?" The raven haired asked suddenly. "Because this is starting to feel like one of the horror movies I've watched. It's about a group of teen that follow these strangers because they think that they can help them get home because they don't have money for a cab, and then-"

"I don't wanna hear it!" The blonde girl cried out, "horror movies gives me the willies!"

"I never knew you didn't like them." Another one said.

"I said silence!" Erza cried out and they fell silent again. Gray and Lucy nodded at her gratefully- the constant talking was getting on their nerves.

They were causing some attention now, as they walked through the town square. People were actually stopping to watch them go past but that was probably because the unlikely scene in front of them wasn't seen everyday. Gray, Happy, Erza and Lucy were fully aware of this and were trying to get to the guild as quick as possible, but it was hard as their 'prisoners' were walking at a snail's pace purposefully.

Almost all of them.

Natsu was walking slowly, not because he was being stubborn, but because he was looking at everything around him with wide eyes which read: I recognise this place.

Happy watched his friend from above (after dropping the teen he was carrying) and grew hopeful again, certain that Natsu would remember him again soon.

"We're here." Lucy said after a few more minutes to no one in particular as they stood in front of a large building with a familiar emblem on the front.

Something flashed through Natsu's memory when he saw that emblem and he had a strange feeling of comfort inside of him.

Could this place be the key to his memories?

And why, why did he have that symbol on his upper arm?

Or, _did_.

Last time Natsu had checked, the mysterious symbol on his arm had almost faded away.

Still…

 **You like?**

 **Btw, there will be NO ships in this story- I'm really sorry gratsu fans, but more people voted A...**

 **Bye!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"Natsu!"

"It's really him!"

"NATSU!

"I knew he was alive!"

"I can't believe it!"

Natsu stared back at the faces that were smiling at him, confused and bewildered. He didn't recognise any of them, but they seemed to know him; some were getting up and walking up to him in disbelief, others were still staring at him in shock for reasons he did not know.

"What's going on here?" A voice asked from the back and all the guild members turned around to the source of the voice.

"Master…" a white haired girl said, "it's Natsu…they found him!" The sea of people parted and a small man (a very small man) walked over to him; in his hand he was holding a staff with a smiley face on top of it. Natsu recognised him from somewhere…

Wait! Wasn't that the guy that he tripped over?! That meant…that he had tripped over the guild master of this guild. Oops.

"Get back from him." The guild master said quietly and the guild members obeyed hesitantly.

"Natsu…" the guild master turned to him and Natsu was getting irritated at the fact that everyone seemed to know his name somehow. The dragon slayer glared at the guild master for a couple of seconds, then, to let out his frustration and anger, aimed a spit at him; the whole guild gasped at his action and Natsu turned his head away from the master's gaze smugly.

"Yes dude!" Myron cried after a few silent seconds.

"Master…" the white haired girl said unsurely as Natsu watched out of the corner of his eye. The master shook his head.

"I thought so…" he said sadly and then spoke to the mages that captured him and his friends. "Put him and his…friends in one of the spare rooms please. Lucy, do you mind keeping an eye on them please? Loki would be happy to help you."

"Sure." Lucy replied.

"Is this a nice room?" Haru asked, "cause I'm not really keen on messy room, you know…I don't like the feeling of old germs spreading everywhere…"

"Do we have room service?" Mika asked when no one answered Haru. The best reply was a shove in the direction of the mysterious room they were getting moved to.

"I bet they are going to murder us all there." Rinn said darkly as he got led away. "Then they'll chop us up into-"

"Shut up!" Mika yelled as Myron and Yuki grinned.

"Another horror movie?" Myron asked and Rinn nodded. "HEY! I want my fucking dog to come with me! That's the least you can do before you chop us up!" Myron yelled suddenly as two guild members were trying to restrain Villain.

Trying.

Natsu snorted at the scene that was unfolding: two guild members were slowly getting dragged by Villain, who was completely oblivious to them, and was wagging his tail whilst walking towards Myron.

Eventually, the two guild members given up and let go of the dog. Villain ram over to them, barking happily. Natsu smiled and let himself get pushed to the room they were sent to. He caught Haru's eye, and smiled warmly at him; Haru smiled back and rolled his eyes as if to say : ' _can you believe these guys?'_

Natsu smiled at the ground and obediently walked up the wooden stairs, past two rooms with closed doors and entered the third one.

The room was dull; it had no curtains, no shelves- just a small bed in the middle. Natsu could see why this was one of the unused ones.

"Talk about a fixer upper…" Mika said into the silence as they were pushed in- Natsu was pushed seemingly less rough than the others, for reasons unknown to him.

"Jesus…okay, okay…" Yuki muttered and sat on the bed, glaring at the mages.

"Just shout if they give you any hassle." The knight girl said to Lucy. Lucy nodded.

"Thanks. I'd rather do that then get Loke out…he'll probably start declaring his 'love' to me again…" She muttered in a quiet tone only the dragon slayer could hear. Natsu laughed, covering his mouth.

"What?" His friends chorused as Lucy moaned. The two other mages (and blue, flying cat) backed out of the room, smirking slightly. Natsu beckoned his friends over and whispered in Haru's (as he was the closest) ear.

"That girl's got some love problems…this guy likes to 'declare his love' to her…" Haru snorted and passed it on to Mika, who then shouted.

"Oh my god! Lucy's got looove problems!"

Everyone apart from Lucy laughed. Natsu collapsed on the bed, laughing weakly. He looked up and saw that Lucy was staring at him. Strange. Why was she looking at him? That was rude.

Natsu raised his eyebrow as if to say: ' _do you mind?!'_

Lucy looked away again, embarrassed.

"What's her deal?" Myron muttered. Natsu shrugged.

"I think she fancies you." Yuki whispered. Natsu and Myron stared at her, mouth open.

"No fucking way!" Myron whispered back.

"I don't think so, either…" Rinn muttered, sliding next to Natsu on the bed; it was getting pretty full now, but that didn't stop Haru wedging himself in between them all. Lucy looked at them questionably, but didn't say anything.

"I think she's looking at you in a different way…" he muttered, glancing up at her.

"Nah." Mika said. "I agree with Carrot top." Yuki rolled her eyes at her nickname, and combed some of her crazy, orange hair out of the way.

"How would you know?" She whispered to the boys. "You're not girls."

"You're right." Myron said. "I will never understand how girls managed to hide their feelings so well…when you think you know what they are thinking…" he mock shuddered. Natsu snorted and Mika giggled. The dragon slayer then looked up at Lucy again, and couldn't help but think that he had seen her before. Even the name 'Loke' had sounded oddly familiar to him.

Actually, the whole guild did.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Amnesia?" Mira-Jane echoed in the guild hall, voicing everyone's thoughts. Master sighed and nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid so." He answered.

"Damn." Gajeel muttered, slamming his fist on the table. He, also, voiced what everybody was thinking.

"Will he ever recover his memory?" Wendy asked from the back, "Maybe my healing magic would do something-"

"Thanks for your suggestion Wendy." Mokarov said, "But that wouldn't do any help at this point.

"Could we trigger it back in any way?" Macao asked.

"Yeah, That could work!" Elfman cried.

"I've still got his scarf. Maybe if we show him it…" Erza said.

"Then maybe…" Gray muttered.

"I'm planning to see Natsu separately and see how much he actually remembers," Mokarov said, speaking to all of the guild, "and then we shall see what we can do from there. But I do not want to scare him anymore than he is now, so I will take it slowly."

There was a sudden shout from upstairs and a bang, then the unmistakable sound of Lucy's shouting.

"We should probably go and help her." Gray said and started to go to the abandoned room again. Erza, Happy and Mokarov followed.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

After lots of shouting, tantrums, swearing and fighting, the mages (along with the extra help of Macao and Gajeel) had finally managed to get Natsu on his own, and sat down on a chair in Mokarov's office (if you want to call it that.) and now the dragon slayer was kicking his chair.

"I just want to talk with you. Is that okay?" Mokarov asked; Natsu looked up at him and once again the guild master noticed the scratch that was streamed down his face, narrowly missing his eye.

"Then you can leave." Mokarov added and Natsu slowly nodded. "Thank you."

"First, is there any questions you want to ask me?" Natsu looked at him, expression unreadable, and opened his mouth to say something; however, after a few seconds, the dragon slayer looked down at the floorboards. Mokarov watched this happen, and came to a conclusion for his behaviour.

"Mute?" The guild master asked gently and Natsu didn't nod or shake his head. Mokarov didn't push the matter, and moved on to some of his questions gently.

"Do you think I'm here to harm you and your friends?" He asked. Natsu nodded viciously and made Mokarov laugh.

"Well, I can assure you I'm not going to. Or any of the guild members around here." Natsu looked up at the guild master less shyly.

"I simply want to help you stay safe." He continued, sensing that he had caught Natsu's attention, "That is what this guild does." Mokarov saw that Natsu was intrigued, through he was trying not to look it. Typical Natsu.

"All I ask of you is, with your friends if you like, to stay here for a few days, that's all. Would you like that?" Natsu hesitated, then nodded slowly, still cautious. "Good!" Mokarov cried, "I'm sure that Fairytail would welcome your stay." The guild master purposefully put stress on the word Fairytail in hope that it would trigger some of the dragon slayer's memory; Mokarov felt that he should introduce parts of Natsu's lost memory over a few days, and not overwhelm him straight away and tell him everything- words wouldn't help bring his memory back, would it?

Sure enough, when Mokarov glanced at Natsu again, the dragon slayer was staring into space, apparently deep in thought.

"Do you want me to show you to your room?" He asked; Natsu jumped slightly and nodded after realising who was speaking. "Follow me." Mokarov opened the door and lead Natsu out of his office and down the guild stairs; immediately all talking stopped and everyone turned their heads to him and Natsu.

"Gajeel, Gray, Erza?" Mokarov asked the three mages, acting like it was completely natural for everyone to be staring at you when you exit a room. "Could you tell the teens you brought in earlier that they have a new room that they can stay in for a couple of days? Tell them that their friend said so." They nodded and made their way to the room from before. Mokarov saw that Natsu was looking around curiously at everything around him.

"You like this place?" He asked. Natsu nodded a little and proceeded to follow the guild master to his new room for a few days. The guild master opened the door and gestured Natsu to go inside; the dragon slayer entered cautiously, looking around the room. Eventually, he sat on one of the beds and looked out the window.

"Is it okay?" The guild master asked. Natsu nodded. "Good. Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here." The master walked away to give Natsu some privacy, praying that his plan would work and the dragon slayer's memories would return.


	20. Chapter 20

**I don't own fairy tail…**

 **Enjoy!**

"I'm sooooooo hungry!" Mika moaned and flopped on one of the beds dramatically with her stomach rumbling.

As good as his word, the guild master had invited Natsu's friends to stay with him for a few days, and had even offered to look after Villain as well. Natsu was grateful, obviously, but he felt like the old man had something to gain from his kind actions. And it didn't help that every time the dragon slayer glanced at him, the guild master was always looking at him, with a strange look in his eyes…

Still- he wasn't going to complain. They got a free room out of it!

"Shut up, Mika." Rinn said and looked out the window, muttering, "nice place."

There was a small silence, before:

"I'm reeeaaaaly huuuuungryyyyy!"

"Why don't we get some food?" Natsu suggested, standing up from his wall slouch. "Smells like they got some real good stuff in here!"

"Good point…" Haru said, "But will they here us?"

"We can be extra stealthy!" Mika cried, jumping into the idea. Natsu pulled his shirt up so it was covering his mouth and nose.

"Like ninjas…" he hissed and raised his hands in what could be called a ninja fighting stance at a stretch.

"Still…" Haru said, but he was smiling.

"This sounds like a great idea!" Myron cried, and pulled his shades on.

"Well, are we going then?" Yuki asked, standing up.

"I hope they have some crisps. I like crisps." Rinn said, turning away from the window.

"Ninjaaaaa…" Natsu whispered, creeping up behind them. Myron pounced at him and pushed him onto the floor. Soon they were play fighting, rolling around the ground, wrestling and causing a racket.

"Shhh! Ninjas are meant to be quiet!" Haru said and kicked Natsu lightly.

"Oh yeah!" Natsu said and sprang up, pushing Myron off him. He pulled his shirt to his face again. "Ninjaaaa…"

"This would make a better mask." Rinn said, and tossed him the slayer's jacket. Natsu pulled his shirt down, beaming, and caught the jacket. He wrapped it around his face so only his eyes and hair were showing.

"Ninjaaaaaa…" He hissed and started to creep around the room. Rinn rolled his eyes and Haru opened the door a crack.

"No one's there…" he whispered.

"Wouldn't it be more simple if we just asked?" Rinn asked.

"That would be too simple. And we won't be ninjas." Myron replied and wedged himself by Haru.

"We'd just be moody teens asking for food." Yuki added. "Let's go already!"

"Ninjaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…"

"Shut the fuck up!"

" _Ninjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa_ …"

"Quiet!" Haru said and pulled the door open slowly to avoid creaking. Below them, a buzz of talking could be heard by the guild members.

"Go." He said and they slipped out of the door- Natsu was the last one, creeping around like how a ninja apparently would.

"I can smell something nice!" Mika whispered loudly and her stomach rumbled again. The group automatically sniffed the air and sighed.

"Smells like cake…" Yuki muttered.

"Yeah…" Rinn said.

"And strawberries…" Natsu added, forgetting to be a ninja.

"Your sense of smell is awesome!" Myron cried, before getting a whack around the head by Yuki.

"Shhh!" She whispered. Myron stuck his tongue out at her.

"Shhh!" He replied and Yuki folded her arms.

"Shhhh!"

"Shhhh!"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

" _Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_!"

"Quiet!" Haru whispered as loud as he could. "Do you want cake?!"

"Yes." They replied, immediately stopping their contest.

"Come on!" Mika whispered loudly and crept over to the source of the sweet smell. She paused and her mouth hung open in shock.

"Whoa…" Haru muttered, looking inside. The kitchen they had entered had meals stacked everywhere: there was cakes and other desserts on one counter and in the other was things like rice with a variety of sauces and sandwiches packed with different fillings. Also, lucky for them, no one seemed to be in there because of the guild meeting happening below them.

"Aw yeah!" Natsu cried and ran into the room and looking around excitedly. The others followed him and began to run wildly around the kitchen, yelling in delight.

"Cake!" Mika cried out, pointing to a collection cakes on the top shelf. She tried to reach them- first by going on her tiptoes, then climbing on the counter- but she couldn't reach them.

"Who puts some strawberry cheesecake so high up?!" She cried out in frustration as Myron, who was the tallest there, tried reaching it by jumping up and down on the counter.

"Someone who likes strawberry cheesecake too much." Natsu replied, grinning.

"Can't reach!" Myron said and jumped down. "Fuck!"

"Now I really want to get that cheesecake for self worth." Rinn said. Natsu was suddenly inspired with a idea.

"Let me climb on your shoulders!" The dragon slayer ordered to Myron.

"Fuck yeah!" Myron replied and stood by the counter. "Climb up!" Natsu grinned and clambered his way onto his friends shoulders.

"Ready?!"

"Ready!"

Myron slowly walked over to the place where the cakes were hidden as his friends cheered them on. Wobbling dangerously, Natsu reached over to the treats and clasped his hands around them, grinning.

"Got them!" Natsu yelled but as he said it, Myron finally toppled over, causing him and Natsu to fall in a heap, caked landing on top comically.

And that's when the mages walked in.

"Fuck."

Myron had voiced everyone's thoughts.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"We were just hungry…" Mika explained as the guild master lead them down to the guild hall.

"You could've just asked me." The guild master replied and gestured them to go down the stairs. They obeyed as Mika muttered:

"They were nice cakes though. Worth it."

Just as the mages came in, Mika snatched the cakes off Natsu's head and started to eat them before they could take them off her.

"I wanted one too…" Haru muttered sadly. Natsu sniggered and automatically reached into his pocket to get some dog treats ready for when he reunited with Villain. He was surprised to find that there was nothing in there.

"Huh?" He said and dig around in his pockets more throughly, in case somehow he hadn't felt them before.

"What?" Haru asked.

"I forgot the dog treats…I must've left them in the room…" Rinn also overheard this, and asked the guild master.

"Hey! Could my friend go and get some dog treats…he left them in the room." Haru and Natsu looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"He asked us to ask..." he explained, fiddling with his nail.

"Yes…sure he can." The guild master replied, raising a eyebrow. Natsu grinned at Rinn and charged back upstairs.

Eventually he got to the room again and, sure enough, the dog treats were lying on the bed innocently. The dragon slayer grabbed it then sat on the bed, twisting the treats in his hands.

"I swear I put you in my pocket…" muttered, "I remember putti-"

Natsu was cut off as a rough, large hand covered his mouth and nose. In his hand there was a rag which smelt of something strange…it was making Natsu feel oddly drowsy…

"Hello, my little dragon slayer…" a low, gruff voice whispered. Natsu turned around to face the intruder groggily and saw that he had long, green hair and black, cruel eyes. He knew this man…

Suddenly, memories came flooding back to Natsu in a rush. Memories of torture. Of kidnap. Of…

Natsu started to struggle wildly in his attacker's grasp but his limbs felt so heavy…his eyes were closing.

"Now, you didn't think you could escape me, could you?" His attacker whispered close to his ear as Natsu slowly fell unconscious, "did you really think that you jump off a cliff and just leave me forever?" The man stroked his free hand against Natsu's cheek. Natsu's head twitched, but then he became still, asleep in his abusers arms. His abuser smiled and stroked Natsu's hair, running his fingers though it slowly.

"You're going to wish you never left me…" he whispered and picked the unconscious dragon slayer up bridal style; he went to the unnoticed open window and slipped out of it quietly, shutting it after him.

There was no evidence that he, or Natsu Dragneel, were ever there.

 **Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"How long is Natsu going to be?" Master Mokarov asked the teens. The raven-haired shrugged.

"I dunno- god…" he answered, rolling his eyes. The brunette with glasses glared at him.

"He's probably forgotten where he put the dog treats." He answered politely. "I'm sorry- I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Za- Haru." He held out his hand for a handshake. Master was shocked for a few seconds by the sudden politeness, but then gratefully shook his hand.

"Dude! You actually used your actual name!" The green haired teen cried out and ruffled his dog's head. Haru sighed.

"Well, these guys aren't exactly a threat, are they?" He answered back; his friend thought for a moment, before grinning.

"You're right! I'm Myron, by the way." He said to the guild master. The blonde hair with the ponytail jumped from the table she was sitting on.

"I'm Mika!" She said happily, pointing to herself. "This is Yuki," she pointed to the ginger girl, who raised her hand in a small wave, "and this is Rinn." She pointed to the raven haired boy in the corner, who was staring at Happy, fascinated. Happy was staring at him back, in a apparent staring contest. Rinn turned around at the mention of his name.

"I can introduce myself, thanks." He said but was smiling slightly.

"I've got to say- that was a better introduction than before." Master Mokarov admitted, smiling. Just then, Mira-Jane came over with some colourful drinks.

"Do any of you want a drink?" She asked them with her usual smile, "they're on the house."

"Cool!" Mika cried out. She pointed to the red drink. "Could I have that?!" Mira smiled.

"Yes, you may." She handed the drink to her and she turned to the others. "Do you want anything?"

"I'll have the same." Haru said, "oh- and one for Natsu, because it looks like that would be his choice."

"Sure." Mira handed the last two red drinks to him and he took them gratefully, putting the spare one on the table Mika was sat at.

"Could I have the green-ish one?" Myron asked and grinned. "It matches my hair." Mira smiled and handed it to him.

"We'll have the two that are left then!" Yuki said and looked at Rinn. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Nope."

"Here you go!" Mira said and handed the last two remaining drinks to them and, with a last smile, walked back over to the bar. Rinn sipped his drink, looking at all the guild members.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked Mokarov. Mokarov nodded. "How come everybody knows Natsu here?"

"Natsu was- and still is- part of this guild." The guild master began to explain. "However, about nine months ago, Natsu went missing…we tried to find him, but to no success." Mokarov chuckled. "And then, he suddenly appears out of nowhere…but with no memories whatsoever of who he was and who he once knew."

"You said nine months ago he went missing, right?" Haru asked. Mokarov nodded. "Well, me and Myron found Natsu only a few weeks ago."

"By a river." Myron added.

"Wait…a few weeks?" Gray asked, walking over to them; the whole guild was silent now and everybody was looking in their direction.

"Yeah…" Haru muttered, pushing up his glasses.

"So where was he before then?" Mika asked. Haru shrugged.

"Where did he get that scratch?" Erza asked, "I've never seen a scratch that was so deliberate before…"

"I dunno. He had it when we found him." Rinn answered. The was a few seconds silence until Haru spoke again.

"Where was he meant to be before he disappeared?" He asked. Happy flew next to Lucy, hanging his head.

"He went on some kind of mission to catch someone…a murderer…I think…" the exceed answered and looked away.

"So something would've went wrong there." Erza said confidently.

"I wonder how much he actually remembers." Mokarov muttered.

"You could ask him." Mika suggested and Rinn rolled his eyes.

"I don't think that's very polite." He said picking his nails, "but you've got a point."

"Well?" Lucy asked Master Mokarov; the guild master thought for a while whilst the whole guild held their breath.

"I think it's worth a shot." He eventually replied.

"I'll fetch him." Lucy said and without waiting for a answer she walked up the stairs. Finally, they might stand a chance of getting the old Natsu back.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu was first aware of the smell; it was a smell of rot and decay. It burned his nostrils and forced him to open his eyes and recall where he was.

Then he was aware of the cool metal that was chained around his wrists and ankles. The chains smelt of blood.

Natsu looked around and remembered the damp room he was in; he remembered the thousand of times he would find himself on the floor when he woke up, staring at the cold, grey walls. He remembered the thousands of times he stared at the floor after a particularly hard beating from his abuser; he remembered all the cuts and bruises he would find after each day. He remembered the smell. The smell of blood.

Natsu shook his head and tried to break his chains but, as he predicted, they wouldn't. He tried to call, but no sound came out of his throat.

He didn't want to be here.

He didn't want to be alone.

He wanted to be back in Fairy tail.

Fairy tail.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Natsu!" A cry came from upstairs filled with shock; all guild members stood up- Gray and Erza were already running to the stairs. However, Lucy and Happy appeared again with worry etched on their faces.

"Natsu…he's gone!" Happy cried out; Lucy nodded next to the exceed.

"I don't know what happened…his stuff is still there…" she said.

"I don't like the sound of this." Gajeel muttered and ran up the stairs.

"What are you doing?!" Cana yelled to him.

"Seein' if I can find out anything!" The dragon slayer yelled back as he ran out of view.

"Has anyone seen anything suspicious?" Erza shouted above the nervous muttering. "Think back to a few days ago- if someone has taken Natsu, I'm sure this wouldn't be their first time here!" The guild thought, but nothing came to mind.

"A few days ago someone did come to the bar…" Mira said into the silence, "I'd never seen him before- but he might've just been a traveller."

"What did he look like?"

"He had…he had long, green hair…" Mira muttered, trying to remember. "Oh! And black eyes! They were really unusual." Happy gasped and sank to the floor.

"What is it?" Gray asked the exceed.

"I'm sure…" Happy muttered, "that man was the same one on Natsu's wanted poster…"

Silence descended upon the guild.

 **Sorry it's so short!**


	22. Chapter 22

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

Natsu stared up at the man in front of him, refusing to show fear. If he did, then it would mean the man had won- there was no way that the dragon slayer would let him win.

"Where are your little guild friends now, dragon slayer?" The man asked in a patronising tone, "Do they care about you at all? Doesn't seem like it…" Natsu refuses to look away from the back eyes staring at him.

' _Fairy tail…'_ Natsu thought, digging into the depths of his broken memory, _'I need to remember!_ '

But he remembered nothing. Nothing at all but…a warm, comforting feeling that would erupt inside him whenever he thought about it…

His thoughts were cut off as the man roughly grabbed the dragon slayer's waist and drew it closer to himself. Natsu tried to move away, fear seeping through his body, but he was too weak, still recovering from being drugged. And this man was too strong.

"Now, now…" The man pulled Natsu closer, grinning, "behave…"

Natsu turned his head away from the man's piecing glare and tried to move away again in vain. The man's smile dropped and he snarled, violently hooking his hands around the dragon slayer's waist; the slayer squirmed uncomfortably in his grip and the older male held up a knife, which had been concealed in his pocket, and held it up to Natsu's face. The little amount of light that was sneaking into the square cell that they were in hit the knife's blade, making its sharp edge more noticeable.

"You are going to behave now, my little Pyro!" The man snarled and, whilst smiling cruelly, pieced the knife into Natsu's back; the cut wasn't deep enough to cause him to bleed to death, but it was enough to be extremely painful. Tears prickled in the dragon slayer's eyes as he gave out a quiet yell of pain. The man grinned and began to slowly drag the knife's blade from his back to his lower torso. Blood seeped from the wound and began to run down Natsu's thigh. The slayer's breath hitched as the man proceeded to pull the knife out of the wound sharply.

"Now, are you going to do as I say?"

Natsu looked up at him, only feeling hatred and fear.

"Are you?"

Natsu, defeated, nodded.

"Good…" The man purred and grabbed the dragon slayer's hair, roughly pulling it towards his face; Natsu could feel his cold breath against his cheek, and shuddered. Suddenly, his abuser slammed the slayer's head against the wall behind him.

Then?

Darkness.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"I got his scent!" Gajeel came charging down the stairs and headed straight for the main doors. Without hesitation, Gray, Lucy, Erza and Happy followed him.

"Can't we go too?" Mika asked but already knew the answer, and the stupid reasoning behind it.

"It's too dangerous." Master Mokarov replied, "seeing as these people have managed to successfully capture Natsu twice, I'd say they are strong mages."

"And we don't even know any kind of magic." Haru pointed out.

"Fair point." Mika muttered and watched as the group of mages ran out the doors.

"Natsu's gonna be fine- don't worry." Macao said from the end of the bar table, where he was drinking slowly with Cana at his side. "That Pyro is tough. Those guys have another thing coming for them."

"I agree wholly." Master agreed and could only take a seat to wait for the mages to return, hopefully with Natsu.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Gajeel stopped in his tracks suddenly and sniffed the air; the sudden stop had caused Happy to fly into the iron dragon slayer's back- not that he seemed to notice.

"What is it?" Erza asked as Happy picked himself up off the ground.

"The scent…" Gajeel sounded confused and sounded like it had supposed him. "It's…it's gone."

"Gone?!" Gray cried out angrily, "How?"

"Geez, I dunno!" Gajeel snapped back, just as frustrated. It had been so strong a second ago…so close…

"Maybe some kind of spell blocked it from here." Lucy said, thinking. That must mean…

"Natsu and whoever took him are close by!" Erza finished, "Come on!"

With Erza leading, the mages sprinted through the dense forest they had found themselves in; it took a few minutes, but soon they broke from the woods and were looking at a building with metal walls. It reminded them strongly of a:

"Prison." Happy muttered, unable to take his eyes off the strange building.

"Let's go. Stay on guard!" Erza ordered and they slipped past the colossal oak doors that disguised it to some extent.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Sir! There are intruders!"

"Mages?"

"We believe so, sir! They look like they want the slayer back!"

Marvalo stared at the guard in front of him with his black, soulless eyes, and wondered what his name was; he must have known it at one point, but, like with anyone else that meant nothing to him, he had not bothered to remember it.

"They want my Pyro, hmm?" Marvalo looked away from the nameless guard and began to pace slightly, combing his long, green hair out of his face.

He had first kidnapped that Pyro of his a good number of months ago; there he was, planning to stay in an abandoned log cabin for the night, when a pink-haired mage forced him smear inside, setting fire to the door whilst he was at it. So immature.

Then there was a fight. There always was. Marvalo was a wanted murderer after all- for him, fighting was daily if he didn't want to be thrown back into prison. The boy was strong- very strong- and the fight would've ended up as his first defeat if he didn't manage to capture him in power-restriction chains.

That was the first time he had kidnapped the Pyro.

But then, of course, his little Pyro escaped because of his guards lack of attention- they were punished later- and so Marvalo immediately decided to pursue the dragon slayer; he wanted people to know that you will never escape from Marvalo Sinyori so easily. And he found his Pyro, after some time searching, which pleases him greatly.

And that was the second time he had kidnapped the Pyro.

Marvalo glanced at the nameless guard again and pondered. Would a group of non-magical guards stop them? It would be a waste of time, and too much noise.

"Pretend we don't know they're here." Marvalo finally answered and sat down of his king-like chair. "I would like to challenge them myself. How many are there?"

"We think there's four, sir." The guard answered robotically, standing straighter. Marvalo thought; he wasn't stupid enough to think he could challenge them all- after all, he only used basic re-quip magic to change his weapons. However, if he managed to split them up…

"Set up all the traps. I want them separated." Marvalo ordered; the nameless guard saluted and ran out of the doors again.

Haruto…that was that guards name.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Strange." Erza muttered as they walked cautiously through the zigzagged through the seemingly endless corridors.

"What?" Lucy asked quietly.

"There should be some guards. But there's none."

The whole group stopped, noticing why it had been so easy for them to get in.

"There was tonnes of them before." Gajeel said into the silence. Gray straightened up suddenly, slowly backing away from the next corner they were going to take.

"It's a trap." He muttered under his breath so only those close to him could hear. "Can you see the camera in the corner?"

Discreetly, the group looked up at the square camera that was half-hidden in the wall.

"They know we're here…" Lucy grabbed her wallet full of keys instinctively; Erza gripped her sword harder, Gray created a ice dagger in his hand and Gajeel moved into a fighting stance.

"It's good to know you finally caught on…"

The mages turned around quickly and saw that a man with long green hair and black eyes had seemingly suddenly appeared out of thin air. He was grinning in a cruel, arrogant way and was turning a knife, with its blade soaked with blood, in one hand.

"It's him!" Happy whispered from above them in shock. "That's the man…the man Natsu was after when he left…it's him…"


	23. Chapter 23

**I don't own fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"So you know me then?" The man asked the exceed but didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he turned his attention to the mages in front of him. "As much as I would like to fight you all…I have to finish my business with a certain someone...but if a fight is what you want, I'll gladly let my men do so…" Behind him, men with their faces hidden by large helmets began to close in, blocking all escape routes.

"What have you done to Natsu?!" Lucy shouted, drawing out her whip; the man grinned.

"Nothing too bad yet." The man snapped his fingers and the guards surged towards the mages, who were being forced to fight. The man began to walk away casually, laughing quietly to himself.

"Coward!" Erza cries as she sliced a guard's chest; but the man was gone and they were left to fight.

"Happy," Gray cried as he threw a guard to the side. "You need to follow him and find Natsu!" Happy nodded.

"Right!"

"It won't take us long to defeat these jerks." Gajeel yelled over the cries of battle. "We'll find you soon." With a final nod, the exceed flew off in the direction the man left in and hoped that the plan would work.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu heard the door open and looked up weakly to see his kidnapper walking towards him; he heard the distant yells of a battle before the door swung shut and vaguely wondered what was going on. Could someone be trying to help him? But who? Maybe…

"We don't have much time left, you and I…" The man said and grabbed Natsu's waist. The slayer didn't try to struggle; he was growing dizzy from blood loss and all his strength had escaped him. His arms ached and he was in pain- he had lost all the fighting spirit inside him.

"You're behaving now, aren't you my little Pyro…" he muttered and tugged the dragon slayer so hard that two cracks could be heard from his wrists as the chains began to break with the force of the pull. Natsu gave a small cry.

"Come on…I'll make it quick for you…" his abuser pulled off Natsu's shirt and jacket viscously, tossing them to the floor. He then proceeded to pull his own shirt off, so both men in the room were shirtless.

"Not bad…" The man remarked, staring at Natsu's bare chest. His rough fingers gripped his waist and dug his long nails into the dragon slayer's fresh wound. Natsu screamed and tried to pull away but each strain made the pain worse.

"You have to be more quiet…" The man whispered to him once he calmed down, "or this is going to hurt more than it should…" His abuser then began to kiss Natsu's neck roughly with no affection whilst digging his fingers further into his wound. Natsu's breath hitched and he screamed again; this time the man didn't even bother trying to stop him and carried on kissing him and started to undo the slayer's trousers quickly and violently. Natsu tried to fight, but with his energy close to zero and his vision blurred, he could only manage a few kicks.

"No! Don't touch him!"

A sudden blur of blue seized his kidnapper's hair and then the cruel hands were off him and no more lips were on his chest. Natsu closed his eyes began to cry out of relief, not caring what his saviour would think.

There were yells of panic filling the room now, and pained howls. Natsu didn't open his eyes.

A last cry, and the door was opened and shut quickly, as if someone was fleeing in a hurry. Natsu didn't open his eyes.

Then silence. A flutter of wings.

A small, gentle hand on his shoulder. Natsu opened his eyes.

Not hand. Paw.

The blue cat that he had seen earlier was resting a paw on his shoulder comfortingly and was looking at him with kind eyes full of worry.

"Natsu…" it whispered. Natsu said nothing, but was strangely comforted by this cat he couldn't remember. Then, it was gone from his vision again and Natsu could hear the sounds of metal being broken from above him. The chains broke and the dragon slayer fell to the ground, relieved of the newfound freedom in his arms; but with the sudden fall, another wave of pain shot through him and he collapsed against the metal wall, breathing quickly.

"Natsu!" The cat said from above him and the dragon slayer could see it again; he was suddenly comforted with a new feeling of safety and affection for the small cat. He smiled a little.

"I'm sorry, Natsu!" The cat suddenly hugged him, burying its head into his chest, "I'm so sorry! I know you don't remember me but I should've been there to help you sooner! But I wasn't and now…Natsu!"

Natsu looked down at the cat.

 _Happy, you don't need to apologise…_

Memories flooded back to him- finally, the last undiscovered corners of his mind reviled themselves and he remembered everything: going on missions with his friends, being in the guild, all the holidays they had.

The good parts.

The bad parts.

The struggles.

The fun.

He remembered everything that had happened at the guild and everyone at the guild.

Including Happy.

All the fun times they had, when it was just them two fishing; all the useless, immature arguments they would have about what they were going to eat. All those times where he would look at Happy, and smile, knowing that they would never leave each other's side for the world.

 _Don't cry Happy…none of this was ever your fault. Don't cry Happy, don't cry._

 _I don't blame you._

"Happy…" Natsu murmured, then louder. "Happy…don't cry…" he wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged him tight.

"Natsu?" The exceed looked up to find the dragon slayer smiling at him. "You remember me?" Natsu nodded. Happy smiled and began to cry out of happiness. "You remember!"

"I could never forget you for long." Natsu said, smiling. Happy nuzzled him and pulled away. His eyes fell on the blood that was running steadily from his waist to the floor; he gasped at the jagged line that started from Natsu's back and ended at his hip.

"You're hurt!" He cried, now understanding the reason for his friends sudden weakness and the paling of his skin.

"I'm fine…" Natsu muttered, stroking the blue cat absentmindedly, but his eyes were not looking directly at anything in particular, giving a glazed look. His eyes were fluttering shut at random intervals and Happy could only watch helplessly as his best friend began to fade from him.

"The others will be here soon! And then we'll be able to go to Fairy tail again!" Happy began to talk to keep Natsu's mind active. Natsu smiled and shifted his gaze over to him.

"Who's with you?" He asked.

"You know, the usual: Lucy, Gray and Erza. Oh- but Gajeel has came along too!" Natsu laughed.

"Stupid iron head…" he said, mainly to himself. "How did you manage to chase that man away anyway?" Happy grinned.

"I pulled his hair really hard-"

"Didn't realise you could be so viscous. Better watch out next time I steal some of your fish…"

"You're really mean when you do that!"

"I'm hungry though! I gotta eat!"

"Eat off Lucy's plate, not mine!"

"Lucy scares me!"

"Steal some when she's not looking then!"

"She always guard's her food around us. Don't know why…"

"Anyway," Happy continued, "I didn't just pull his hair! I scratched his eyes! Hard!"

" _Viscous_ Happy."

"I was defending us!"

"I'm never going to steal your food again. It may be the last thing I do…"

Happy nuzzled into Natsu affectionately.

"I don't mind if you steal my fish." He said. Natsu closed his eyes.

"Now I really want some fish…" he muttered. Happy giggled.

"Hey, Happy! You in here?!" Erza's voice cried from the end of the hall.

"I'm here! I found Natsu!"

Cheers erupted and Gray appeared at the door with Gajeel behind him.

"I found them!" Gray cried. He gestured to the others to come. "In here!"

Lucy and Erza appeared at the door with Natsu's kidnapper, unconscious, in their arms.

"We found him trying to run away." Lucy said to no one in particular, "I think you blinded him, Happy."

"Hey guys!" Happy interrupted as the mages walked over to them, squinting in the dim light. "Natsu remembered everything! He remembered us! Isn't that right, Natsu?" Happy turned to the fire dragon slayer but he didn't answer. "Natsu?"

Natsu didn't respond.

"Wake up!" Happy cried and shook him gently. The mages ran over to them; Erza and Lucy dumped the kidnapper's limp body on the floor.

"He's lost too much blood." Erza verified and immediately started to put pressure on the wound. "We need to try and get him to wake up or…" she didn't finish her sentence.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy cried, "Wake up! Come on! You need to!" Natsu stirred and the mages held their breath in hope.

"Geez, Luce…you don't need to shout…" Natsu opened his eyes a crack and grinned weakly at the celestial mage. His voice was barely a whisper, but it got heard.

"I was trying to wake you up, you idiot!" She said but smiled.

"We need to get him back to the guild quickly." Gray muttered, "I'm not sure he's going to last long if this wound is left untreated."

"He's been drugged something too." Gajeel added, "and I don't like the smell of it…"

"Oi Flamebrain!" Gray said at the wounded slayer, "can you get up?" But Natsu was already dozing off again and Gray took that as a no.

"I'll carry him outta this place." Gray said and began to pick up Natsu and put him on his back. Natsu moaned and visibly flinched at the pain it was causing him; the mages looked at each other and knew they had to get Natsu back to the guild as soon as they could.

"We can send a distress signal once we're out of here." Erza said and she began to stride out. The other mages followed. "That will get him back quicker."

Happy flew beside Natsu, refusing to leave his side whilst Gajeel and Lucy picked up Natsu's kidnapper, accidentally-on-purpose knocking him on everything that they passed.

"I just hope we get to the guild in time." Gray muttered and sped up as much as he could without jostling Natsu.

"I promise you can have all my fish when you get better," Happy whispered to the fire dragon slayer, "and I won't complain ever again."

 **Please review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**I don't own Fairy tail**

 **Enjoy!**

"He'll live." Mokarov said, analysing the unconscious dragon slayer who was lying on a bed in the guild infirmary. The mages let out a sigh of relief.

Ever since they had managed to get Natsu out of the building, he hadn't stirred- even when they were on their way back to guild in 'the dreaded train' the dragon slayer hadn't moved or looked like he would remotely be sick.

After the train journey, the mages immediately rushed to the guild's infirmary where he was bandaged up.

"Is he okay?" Haru sprinted in the room with his friends close behind. The guild master nodded.

"He'll need rest- those drugs were nasty- but he will recover."

"Thank god." Tiki muttered, smiling slightly.

"I never thought that dude would actually be a dragon slayer." Myron said; his friends nodded.

"Though his magic suits him." Rinn said thoughtfully, staring at Natsu. There was silence again for a while as mages and non-mages watched the fire dragon slayer sleep. Haru smiled and turned away.

"It would be better if we leave." He said; the mages stared at him in shock, but Yuki was nodding.

"I thought the same." She replied.

"But why?" Lucy questioned, "Natsu sees you as his friends."

"We don't want to hold him back." Haru said simply. "I know that if we stay, then he will always be in two minds about what to do. Natsu's a great guy, and he deserves the best life there is- and it's not with us."

"Though I still expect him to be our fucking friend." Myron said, grinning. "Then we won't get arrested as often…"

"Fair point." Rinn agreed and began to walk out of the door.

"Is there anything I can do to persuade you to stay?" Master Mokarov asked, knowing the answer. The friends all smiled.

"Nah…" Mika grinned. "Never liked guilds anyway."

"Take care, anyway!" Lucy called out to them. They waved and closed the door quietly.

"They're nice once you get to know them." Gray noted.

"Thanks!" A amused cry said from the other room and it was followed by loud laughter.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Natsu woke up a few hours after the friends departed, confused and weakened. Happy was the first to know; he had been at the dragon slayer's side ever since he had been moved to the infirmary.

"Natsu! You're awake!" Happy cried out joyfully and hugged him tightly. Natsu, still unsure about what was going on, looked around.

"Huh?" He muttered as he returned the exceeds hug slowly, wondering why it felt like his energy had been drained and his head had been whacked with a sledge hammer repeatedly.

"I'm glad you woke up!" Happy muttered, nuzzling his head into the slayer's chest. Natsu smiled and tickled the cat's ears.

"Hey Happy…" he looked around again, vaguely recognising the white walls and the scent of medicine. "I'm I…am I in Fairy tail?"

Happy nodded.

"You're in the infirmary." Happy leant closer to Natsu's touch, purring softly before continuing. "We had to get you here as quick as we could because…because it looked like…"

Natsu stroked Happy's fur; the exceed looked up at him and the dragon slayer could see his eyes glistening with tears.

"Hey…I'm okay now, alright?" He said softly and Happy smiled. "In fact, I'm actually starving…"

"Me too!" Happy had suddenly got back the appetite that he had lost a few days ago over Natsu. "Let me get something to eat!" Natsu grinned.

"What about some fish?!" He asked. Happy nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! I love fish!" The exceed answered and began to fly towards the kitchen, yelling: "Natsu's awake and I'm getting some fish!"

Surprised and happy yells came from various places around the guild, and Natsu soon found himself surrounded by all his guild mates.

"I can't believe that stupid cat didn't tell us!" Lucy muttered, glaring at the exceed.

"I wanded oo e ome ishhhh!" Happy answered back with his mouthful. He swallowed. "And Natsu wanted some fish as well!"

Natsu, with a plate of cooked fish on his lap, grinned at the mini argument.

"How are you feeling?" Erza asked, ignoring the tiny wrestling fight going on between Happy and Lucy.

Natsu hummed in thought.

"Tired. And my side hurts. Oh- and I'm thirsty." He answered as accurately as he could. Erza nodded.

"All you need is good rest." Mokarov said, walking to a space beside the dragon slayer. "And to make sure that you do, I'm putting you under a temporary mission ban until I think you are ready."

"Wha?" Natsu answered in shock. "But Gramps!"

"Stop whining, Flame-brain." Gray said, giving the dragon slayer a light punch on the arm. "You seem to recover in double the time of a normal person anyway."

"He's got a point." Gajeel said. Marsh rolled his eyes, but didn't argue.

"And we could solve your thirst by getting you some water." Wendy added.

"I'll get some from the bar." Mira-Jane said and exited the crowd.

Natsu looked around and, with a jolt, suddenly remembered his other friends- the ones that he knew when he knew nothing else.

"Wait…" He said, "Where are Haru and Mika and…"

"They thought it would be better to leave." Master said, sighing.

"Gone?" Natsu muttered. The guild master nodded.

"They said they would hold you back if they stayed." Erza said.

"I can see where they were coming from…" Natsu said after a small period of silence. "But I liked them…but they were also very distracting." The guild members silently agreed.

"It's not like you're going to forget them though, are you?" Lucy said, smiling. "They will always be your friends."

Natsu nodded and smiled.

"Hey Happy…Do ya wanna race to see how fast we can eat some fish?"

All the guild members facepalmed.

"I don't think that's a very good-"

"You're on!"

"-idea."

"Three, two, one: GO!"

-#!-#!-#!-#!

Like Gray said, Natsu did heal in double the time and was soon half walking, half stumbling around the guild hall again, ignoring any suggestions to go back to the infirmary.

Sometimes, a haunted look would flicker across the dragon slayer's face when no one or everyone was watching, and it would hurt Natsu's guild mates to know that there was still some things that Natsu hadn't revealed about what happened on the days after he got kidnapped. And they worried that those days would change Natsu from the one they knew.

But it didn't.

Maybe Natsu's eyes had more depth when they were looked in. But he was still the same Natsu: same appetite, same carefreeness, same immatureness- definitely Natsu. It proved how strong Fairy tail really was and how much they would look out for one of their own.

And just like that, everything fell back in place.

Finally, Natsu could go on missions again with his friends and wasn't nagged to stay in bed by an angry Erza. In celebration, Natsu accidentally set fire to the bar table and caused a fight with all the men in Fairy Tail.

Sometimes, Natsu would find his mind wondering back to the friends he had met which had left on the same day he had awoke; he would wonder whether they had caused more trouble, or whether Myron had done something else stupid. He never worried about them, just wondered.

-#!-#!-#!-#!

"Oi, Flame-brain! You're coming on a mission with us! Lucy needs to pay her rent!"

Natsu turned away from the drink he currently had in his hand, and looked over to where Gray was standing with his arms folded and (surprise, surprise) no clothes apart from his boxers.

"I'll come once you're dressed, Ice Stripper!" He yelled back. Gray growled as he noticed that he was almost naked.

"Hurry!"

"I'm coming, Pervert!"

"What did you call me, you idiot?!"

"You heard, Ice Princess!"

"That's it! You're dead!"

"Not if I beat you first- which I will!"

Soon fists were flying and furniture was getting broken.

And just like that, everything fell back into place.

 **The end!**

 **Sorry if you don't like the ending...but it's all I could think of.**

 **GRATSU FANS READ THIS!**

 **My next story will be a Gratsu one and this is what it is about:**

 **After a mission goes wrong, Gray is left stranded in the rain with a sick Natsu.**

 **GRATSU!**

 **And goodbye for now! Please review your thoughts on this idea if you are a gratsu fan. I will not listen to NaLu propaganda...**


End file.
